Day 20 · The Nativity Fast
Comfort, Comfort My People
““Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.””Isaiah 40:1-2
Reflection
After many chapters of warning, Isaiah's book turns with these tender words: comfort, comfort my people; speak comfortably to Jerusalem; her warfare is accomplished and her iniquity is pardoned. The very next verse speaks of a voice crying in the wilderness, which all four Gospels apply to St John the Forerunner. Before God asks anything of us, he speaks comfort. Repentance is not grovelling. It is turning back toward a Father who is already running to meet us (Luke 15:20).
A prayer
God of all comfort, speak tenderly to my heart. You know the battles I have fought and the sins I carry. Pardon me, and let me hear your voice of comfort above every other voice. Amen.
Carry this with you
Who needs a word of comfort from you this week?