Monday the Seventeenth Week of Pentecost

September 25, 2023
Today's Reading: Isaiah 55:6-9Daily Lectionary: 2 Kings 4:38-5:8, Ephesians 6:1-24
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Have you ever sought a second opinion? Usually, that’s something that happens in a medical context. A doctor might suspect a particular illness or recommend a course of treatment. If the patient doesn’t like the doctor’s diagnosis/recommendation, he or she may choose to seek a second opinion from another doctor. There are times when it makes good sense to get a second opinion on something. But whose opinion should you trust? In matters that are even greater than life and death–and by that, I mean matters of eternal life–you should go to the One whose opinion actually matters…God Himself. 
In today’s text, there’s an invitation to “Seek the LORD while He may be found” and to “call upon Him while He is near.” People are to seek the LORD in order that we might see His ways, how they are holy and upright (unlike ours), and so that we may repent of our wicked ways and thoughts. The LORD will have compassion; He will pardon! The problem is one of perspective. It’s all too easy for us to lose perspective on what God has called good and evil. We tend to live in the moment; scratching every sinful “itch.” We try to justify our own sins by pointing out that they aren’t that bad…but what we’re really demonstrating is that we see things differently than God. He has a perfect perspective. From His vantage point over all things in creation, He can truly say that, “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” So the question boils down to this: whose opinion are you going to trust? There’s an added urgency to these words…When should we seek the LORD? While He may be found! When should we call upon Him? While He is near! 
As this was yesterday’s Old Testament lesson in worship, it makes sense for us to think of it in light of the Gospel lesson from Matthew 20. There is a time when God is calling us into His field to labor…and a time when the laborers’ wages will be doled out. There is a way in which God will generously give His laborers the fruits of their faith. But beware the temptation to grumble when God forgives the wicked and the unrighteous…and remember that God’s thoughts and His ways are higher and better than ours–for it is in His ways and thoughts that YOU are saved! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
The will of God is always best and shall be done forever; and they who trust in Him are blest; He will forsake them never. He helps indeed in time of need; He chastens with forbearing. They who depend on God, their friend, shall not be left despairing. Amen. (LSB 758:1)
-Pastor Dustin Beck is pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Corpus Christi, Texas.
Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.
Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.