The Lord surprises. He receives the unacceptable.
Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong.
Isaiah 56v2
The Old Testament law was extensive, yet here the Lord simplifies. He asks people to trust him for time and to do what they understand to be right.
When overwhelmed, a simplification to the basics is good. Then comes the surprise.
“Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say, ‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’
Isaiah 56v3
The Lord commands his people to freely receive those who are explicitly excluded from worship and from what they understand to be God’s blessing.
As I pursue a righteous life it is easy to slip into a mind-set that such a lifestyle is a road to blessing yet I am received by faith not lifestyle choices. It is inappropriate for me to tell God whom he can or cannot receive or bless.
I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me … — a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give.
Isaiah 56v4-5
These eunuchs were not up to dealing with what excluded them, but the Lord saw them committed to himself through a simplified version of law. He looked beyond the unattainable demands of law to faith which saves.
I am not asked to call things good which God does not call good. I am asked to receive those who have faith.
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Photo by Keira Burton: