Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

August 2nd, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Isaiah was reminding the people of Judah (and us) that God’s children are forbidden to go to mediums and wizards for counsel and wisdom (vs. 9). God’s children are commanded to go to the Word of God for light. The people were looking for a message, and if they just would have listened and taken heed, they would have realized that God was speaking to them through the prophecies He was giving to Isaiah.

Humanity still seems to always be looking to anyone and/or anyplace, but God, for advice. But God’s Word has stood the test of time. Jesus promised that it would in Luke 21:33: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” The Bible still remains today our playbook, our guide, and our owner’s manual for life. It will lead us past the stormy waters of 21st-century compromise to the calm realm of eternal truth.

I love how well the century old poem, written by Pastor John Clifford, called “The Anvil of God’s Word,” says this:

Last eve I paused beside the blacksmith’s door
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
When looking in, I saw on the floor,
Old hammers worn out with beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he; then with twinkling eye,
“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”

And so I thought, the anvil of God’s Word
For ages, skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed—the hammers gone.
“LORD, give us a greater desire and passion to read and study Your Word so we might be useful servants to You this day.”