YEAR 3, WEEK 28, Day 2, Tuesday, 7 July 2026

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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Tuesday, 7 July 2026:

Isaiah 65:1-2 — I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, Here I am, here I am, to a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;

God’s answer to the prayer of the previous chapters is a startling revelation of grace: God makes Himself known to those who were not seeking Him while patiently holding out His hands to people who continually reject Him. Paul applies these verses to both the Gentiles and Israel, showing that salvation has always begun with God’s gracious initiative rather than human merit (Romans 10:20-21). Yet God’s saving purpose has always extended beyond Israel to all nations, for He promised Abraham that through his offspring all the nations of the earth would be blessed, a promise ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:8, 16). We seek God because He first sought us; we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). The Gospel is the ultimate revelation of this pursuing grace. The Son of God came to seek and save the lost while we were still sinners and enemies of God (Luke 19:10; Romans 5:8-10). At the cross, the outstretched hands of God toward rebellious humanity become visible in the outstretched arms of Christ, who bears our judgment and offers reconciliation to all who will come to Him.

Yet Isaiah exposes the fundamental nature of rebellion: God’s people “walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices.” Sin is not merely breaking individual commandments; it is rejecting God’s wisdom and authority to live according to our own judgment. This was humanity’s choice in Eden, Israel’s repeated failure throughout its history, and the condition described in Judges when everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). Christ calls us out of this self-directed life into union with Him, where His Word renews our minds, His Spirit reshapes our desires, and His life increasingly becomes visible through ours (Romans 12:2; Galatians 2:20). Where are you still asking God to bless decisions, desires, or habits you have chosen according to your own thinking rather than submitting them to His Word?

Isaiah 65:3-7 — a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; who say, Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you. These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the LORD; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.

In their rebellion, the people openly disregard God’s commands, blend His worship with practices He has forbidden, and yet consider themselves spiritually superior to others. Their declaration, “I am too holy for you,” exposes the blindness of self-righteousness. Religious activity can coexist with profound rebellion when people approach God on their own terms rather than humbly submitting to His Word. Jesus confronted this same condition in the Pharisees, who appeared righteous before others while remaining inwardly corrupted by pride and hypocrisy (Matthew 23:25-28). God is not impressed by religious knowledge, activity, reputation, or comparison with others. He desires the humble and contrite heart that trembles at His Word (Isaiah 66:2).

• Matthew 23:25-28 — “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
• Isaiah 66:2 — But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
• Hosea 6:6 — For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings

The Gospel destroys every basis for spiritual pride because no one comes to God by superior morality or religious achievement. We come as sinners who need mercy, and our only righteousness is the righteousness of Christ received by faith (Philippians 3:8-9). Union with Christ therefore produces both holiness and humility. The closer we walk with Jesus, the more clearly we see the holiness of God, the depth of our dependence upon grace, and the impossibility of looking down upon others. At the same time, grace never gives us permission to make peace with the sins for which Christ died. Those who love Him increasingly desire to keep His commandments and become like Him (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3). Has your relationship with Christ made you increasingly humble, obedient, gracious toward others, and sensitive to sin, or have religious knowledge and activity allowed you to become satisfied with yourself?

Isaiah 65:8-10 — Thus says the LORD: As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it, so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all. I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there. Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for my people who have sought me.

God’s judgment is never careless or indiscriminate. Though rebellion has spread throughout the nation, the Lord knows those who belong to Him and preserves a faithful remnant. Like new wine found within a damaged cluster of grapes, there remains “a blessing in it,” and God refuses to destroy what He has purposed to redeem. Throughout Scripture, salvation depends upon God’s preserving grace. He preserved Noah through the flood, kept seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed to Baal, and maintained a remnant according to the election of grace (1 Kings 19:18; Romans 11:5). Ultimately, the promised offspring from Judah leads us to Jesus Christ, the true Seed through whom God’s covenant promises are fulfilled and people from every nation receive the blessing promised to Abraham (Galatians 3:16, 29).

Those preserved by grace are repeatedly called “my servants,” “my chosen,” and “my people who have sought me.” Grace does not produce passive Christianity but a people who belong to God, seek Him, serve Him, and increasingly reflect His character. Jesus did not merely save us from judgment; He united us with Himself so that we might bear fruit for the Father and participate in His purposes (John 15:4-8). Our security rests in Christ, but that security produces perseverance, obedience, and fruitful service. Are you merely trusting that you belong to God’s people, or does your daily life demonstrate the hunger for God, obedience, and fruitful service that characterize those who abide in Christ?

Isaiah 65:11-12 — But you who forsake the LORD, who forget my holy mountain, who set a table for Fortune and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.

The people who sought Fortune and Destiny were attempting to secure their future apart from God, but Isaiah exposes the foolishness of trying to control life while refusing to listen to the One who actually governs it. The central issue is not merely their idolatrous practices but their hardened response to God’s voice: “when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen.” God had repeatedly spoken, warned, invited, and corrected them, but they continually chose what pleased themselves rather than what delighted Him. Sin hardens the heart when repeated resistance to God’s voice gradually becomes a settled way of life.

Jesus describes His sheep as those who hear His voice, know Him, and follow Him (John 10:27). Union with Christ is therefore a listening relationship. Through Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit, Christ continually renews our minds, corrects our desires, and calls us to obedience. The danger is not simply that we occasionally fail but that we become increasingly skilled at hearing God’s Word without responding to it. James warns us not to deceive ourselves by hearing the Word without doing what it says (James 1:22). What has God already made clear through His Word that you continue to postpone, rationalize, or refuse to obey?

Isaiah 65:13-16 — Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame; behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit. You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse, and the Lord GOD will put you to death, but his servants he will call by another name, so that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.

Isaiah draws a sharp contrast between those who belong to God and those who forsake Him. One group eats, drinks, rejoices, and sings; the other remains hungry, thirsty, ashamed, and broken. The difference is not that God’s servants escape every hardship. Isaiah himself suffered, Jesus promised His disciples tribulation, and Paul learned contentment through hunger, need, persecution, and imprisonment (John 16:33; Philippians 4:11-13). The difference is the source from which they live. Those separated from God continually seek satisfaction from things that cannot satisfy, while those united with Christ possess the inexhaustible life of God Himself.

Jesus fulfills this promise as the Bread of Life and the source of living water. Whoever comes to Him will not hunger, and whoever believes in Him will never thirst (John 6:35; 7:37-38). Through the Gospel, Christ does not merely improve our circumstances; He becomes our life, our righteousness, our peace, and our joy. Paul could rejoice in prison because his deepest treasure could not be taken from him: “For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). This is the secret of Christian contentment. The believer’s joy is not rooted in possessing favorable circumstances but in being possessed by Christ and learning to experience His sufficiency in every circumstance. What disappointment, loss, fear, or unmet desire is revealing that you are still looking to something other than Christ to provide the satisfaction and security that can only be found in Him?

Isaiah 65:17-19 — For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

God’s answer to humanity’s rebellion is ultimately nothing less than a new creation. Sin has corrupted the human heart, fractured relationships, subjected creation to futility, and filled the world with suffering and death. Humanity cannot repair what sin has destroyed. Only the Creator can make all things new. The promise that begins here reaches its fulfillment through Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection inaugurate the new creation and guarantee its completion. Anyone who is in Christ is already a new creation, and those united with Him await the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells and every tear is wiped away (2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-5).

Yet perhaps the most remarkable statement is not simply that God’s people rejoice in Him but that God rejoices in His people: “I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people.” The Gospel brings sinners into a relationship with God that exceeds mere acquittal from judgment. Through Christ we are forgiven, adopted, united with the Son, indwelt by the Spirit, and brought into the love and fellowship shared by the Father and the Son (John 17:22-26). God is forming a people conformed to the image of Christ in whom He delights and through whom His glory is displayed (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 2:7). Do you live as though salvation merely means escaping judgment, or are you learning to enjoy and respond to the astonishing reality that through Christ you have been brought into the love, fellowship, and delight of the Triune God?

Isaiah 65:20-23 — No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them.

Isaiah describes the coming reign of God in terms of restored life, fruitful labor, security, justice, and freedom from futility. The curse introduced by sin has affected every part of human existence. Death shortens life, injustice allows others to seize the fruit of our labor, families experience suffering and loss, and even our best work remains temporary. Paul describes creation as subjected to futility and groaning for liberation from its bondage to corruption (Romans 8:20-23). Isaiah looks forward to the reign of Christ, when the destructive effects of sin are decisively reversed and God’s righteous rule brings order, justice, fruitfulness, and peace.

The resurrection of Jesus guarantees this restoration. Christ did not rise merely to rescue souls from the world but to begin the renewal of all things and secure the resurrection of His people (1 Corinthians 15:20-26). Because we are united with the risen Christ, our lives and labor are no longer meaningless even now. Paul concludes his great teaching on the resurrection by telling believers to be steadfast and always abounding in the work of the Lord because our labor in Him is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). The future restoration of creation gives meaning to present obedience. Are you investing your time, strength, relationships, and work in things that will endure in the kingdom of God, or spending your life pursuing accomplishments that cannot survive the coming new creation?

Isaiah 65:24-25 — Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

Isaiah ends the chapter with the restoration of what sin has shattered: intimacy with God, peace within creation, and the defeat of the serpent. The God who earlier stretched out His hands to people who refused to answer now describes a people living in such fellowship with Him that He answers before they call and hears while they are still speaking. This is the direction of God’s redemptive purpose — restored communion between God and His image bearers. Through Christ, believers already have access to the Father by the Spirit, are invited to abide in the Son, and can live with the continual awareness that God is near and attentive to His children (John 15:4-7; Ephesians 2:18; 1 John 5:14-15). Eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent, and salvation increasingly restores us to the intimate fellowship for which humanity was created (John 17:3).

The final picture of peace throughout God’s holy mountain points us again to Christ. Isaiah earlier identified the coming Messiah as the shoot from Jesse upon whom the Spirit rests, under whose righteous reign the wolf dwells with the lamb and nothing hurts or destroys (Isaiah 11:1-9). Jesus is the promised King who crushes the serpent, defeats death, reconciles sinners to God and to one another, and will ultimately bring creation itself into the freedom of His glorious kingdom (Genesis 3:15; Colossians 1:19-20; Romans 16:20). The chapter that began with God calling to rebellious people ends with God dwelling in perfect fellowship with a redeemed people in a restored creation. This is the Gospel story: God seeks those who do not seek Him, saves them through Christ, unites them with His Son, transforms them into people who hear His voice and delight in His ways, and will one day complete His work by making all things new. Are you merely waiting for Christ to restore all things someday, or are you abiding in Him today so that His presence, righteousness, joy, peace, and reconciling love increasingly become visible through your life?

“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 7 July 2026: Identify one area in which you know God has spoken through His Word but you have delayed or resisted obedience. Before the end of today, take one specific, measurable action that demonstrates your submission to Christ in that area, and tell one mature believer what you have done so that your obedience is concrete and accountable.

Pray: “Father, thank You for seeking me when I was not seeking You and for reconciling me to Yourself through Jesus Christ. Forgive me for resisting Your voice, trusting my own ways, and seeking satisfaction apart from You. Teach me to abide in Christ, hear Your voice, delight in obedience, and live in the joy, peace, and righteousness of Your coming kingdom. Make the life of Jesus increasingly visible through me as I wait for the day when You make all things new. Amen.”