Advent - Day 13

And now the Lord says—
    he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
    and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord
    and my God has been my strength—
he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:5-6
Full Readings: Isaiah 49:1–6, John 1:1–14

Here is a remarkable thing. At one point, only a handful of people (mostly women), could be called Christians. As Jesus breathed His last, the believers were few and they were all in one place.

Today. Well, it’s hard to say for sure. But there are hundreds of millions of Christians. That really is wild when you think about it. But that’s not the crazy part. There is not a country in the world that doesn’t have some group of believers.

Every continent. Every country. The good news about Jesus.

Yet, this is exactly what God had promised. He sent His servant to be a light not simply to Israel, for that would be too small a thing. But also to the nations, the Gentiles.

And I for one am thankful. God could have chosen to save only a handful of people. But in His abundant mercy, heaven will be filled with people from every nation. Can’t wait to meet everyone!

For Today:

• What do you find remarkable about the spread of the gospel?
• Give thanks today that the gospel reached you!
• Pray for a country that the gospel would spread.

 
Pray:

• Praise the Father that He is light and sent His servant to spread the light of God.
• Give thanks for Jesus who is the light of the world and is at work in His people to be light in the world. 
• Ask God for His Holy Spirit to spread the good news of the gospel to all nations.