Prayer: Lord, may we follow where you lead us, and may we then lead others as we share the gifts of peace like a river, love like an ocean, and joy like a fountain that you graciously give us. Amen.
Reading: Isaiah 48:17-19 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: The closest river to my house is the Juniata River, a tributary of the Susquehanna River, and it is about twenty minutes down the road from where I live. So I must admit that I do not spend a lot of peaceful time with a river, perhaps if it was in my backyard. But I do think there is something very peaceful about large bodies of water – anything the size of a creek or larger (puddles don’t count). For me I believe it has something to do with our connection to water, spiritually and physically. Water was created on the second day in the Genesis 1 creation account, through water we are baptized as a child of God, and water continues to remind us of our baptism. To think about this biologically, the average adult human is made of about 60% water and water is vital to provide habitat for and sustain the life of practically all of God’s critters! So it is no wonder that we find water as a way to connect to the peace and presence of our Creator, making rivers (or creeks or ponds) great place to sit and reflect on God’s word. This passage is showing us that we can still learn from Israel’s mistakes, and we can follow where the Lord is leading us – leading us to love the Lord our God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. It is as simple as that. We’ll continue to make mistakes too, but repentance and forgiveness ae so powerful – Thank God for that great grace! The greatest commandments will bring peace like a river to our soul and amongst our neighbors – make peace on earth the ultimate goal this advent season! --Anne Harshbarger
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