Advent 2017, Day 1

"Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways..." ~Isaiah 63:17

From today's Psalm response: "Lord, make us turn to you."

I am struck by the opposition of these two Biblical readings. In the first, God LETS us wander away and in the second, we ask him to MAKE us turn to him.

The first seems to me more like the God I know. He doesn't want us to wander away and calls to us in many ways to keep us in His will, but if we choose to wander away from Him or ignore Him, He allows it.

Yet, in the response, we ask Him to MAKE us turn to him.

A prime example our weakness and our humanity.

I think deep down we really want to do God's will, but we often wander off, putting ourselves into difficult situations.

When we are facing difficult choices, we often want someone else to make the decision for us and who better than God?

Yet, the gift of free will is such a wise and loving one. Nothing coerced will have the same dedication as something of which we are convinced.

Lord, please fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I might never turn away from you and will remain watchful until your coming.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.