8 Dec 2009
Advent Devotional
Isaiah 11:1-10
“A shoot will come up from the stump or Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” I recall back to a childhood book “The Giving Tree” where the tree gave everything for the boy he loved. And when the tree was cut to nothing but a stump and thought it had nothing more to give, the boy, now an old man, just needed a place to sit. When he thought he couldn’t, the tree once again provided. I often think of stumps being the dead part of a tree. But what a miracle occurs in this passage from Isaiah–the dead suddenly becoming alive again, growing a branch and creating fruit! Advent is a time when we look toward the end of days. Yes, it’s about expectation of Jesus’ birth, but it’s also about his coming again. The days of peace. Enemies no longer enemies but friends. No more fear. No more want or hurt. Hope. This story points toward hope where we believe there to be none.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to search those parts of my life that seem “life-less” and do not produce fruit. As I joyfully await for your coming again, open me to being transformed from lifelessness to being risen again with you in new life, hope and love. Amen.
Clint Miller
