Big Plans – January 21, 2020

“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 you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:6

Big Plans

A young father holds his baby in his arms and talks to him about his plans for their future together and his hopes and dreams for his child.

He promises, “We’ll play together and work together. I’ll teach you how to ride a bike, throw a football, and use a saw. Together we’ll change the oil in the car and plant a garden. I’ll pray with you and for you. And when I’m disciplining you and forgiving you, listening to you and loving you, I pray that you will see in me the unconditional love that God has for you.

“And when we go to church together, I pray that my faith and love for God will be unmistakable in the way I sing and pray, in the look on my face and the joy in my voice. And I pray that you’ll take that faith with you, as you go off to college and move out on your own, as you become a teacher or pastor, an engineer or doctor, as, Lord-willing, you raise a family of your own. I’ve got big plans, big dreams, for you, my child.”

Before he sent Jesus into the world, God the Father told his Son about the big plans he had for him. He would restore the tribes of Jacob and bring Israel back to God. But he would also be a light for non-Jewish people and bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Only Jesus could carry out these plans. And he did so perfectly.

Many today try to make Jesus into a Savior just for some. But God had bigger plans for him. He came to be the Savior for all. He came to be my Savior and yours. Jesus lived as the perfect Son for all people so that God will count you and me as his forgiven children forever.

What big plans! What a perfect Savior!

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for carrying out God’s plan to be my Savior. Amen.