Prior to boarding a flight on a warm sunny afternoon I spotted the pilot and crew outside the plane taking a deep breath and enjoying the sunshine. I wish I’d have taken their picture as it could have been an advertisement for the airline, greeting their passengers with smiling faces in the bright sunlight.
While on board, I witnessed something I’ve not seen in a long time: Smiling faces of passengers, unhindered by medical masks. One by one like a procession, nearly every person wore a smile. No grumpiness, no complaints, even as the queue was long and luggage compartments began to fill. I decided to relax and close my laptop to watch the remaining passengers board because their smiles brought joy to me.
The boarding experience felt for a moment, and maybe for the first time ever, “as it should be”. It made me hope in the future where there will be no more tears or bloodshed.
In a world full of destruction, sin, disease, and fear, there is still hope, there is still joy that comes from God. And while hoping for better days ahead is good, the great hope we have is that ancient prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1)
As a man, Jesus came to serve, doing God’s will to the point of death on a cross and then his resurrection. In the same way God delighted in him, he delights in us as we obey him and do his will. What is he calling you toward (and away from) today?
Today’s reading: Isaiah 42