Check out all the previous Christmas readings here.

Christmas Reading Plan | Week 1 | Day 1

Prayer

As you come to spend time with Jesus, calm your mind and body until you feel fully present. Thank God for a time to dwell in His presence and ask Him to be with you as you read and meditate.

Bible Reading: Isaiah 2:2-5

Read these verses three times slowly.

In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Reflection & Questions

This week, we begin our Christmas reading plan in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah is one of the main prophets in the Old Testament, written several hundred years before Jesus’ birth. And what we will see this week is that the prophecies in Isaiah of Jesus are quite incredible.

We start in chapter two of Isaiah. These are some famous verses that have been embraced by even the non religious. The hopes that swords would be turned into plowshares. That war would change to peace. It doesn’t take a long glance at the news to be once again aghast at the brutality of our world. We are blue ball spinning in an endless universe that appears so peaceful, and yet we are full of fury and strife. Where is the hope? Where will peace come from?

Isaiah says, “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established.. Many will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord…He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples…Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”

Hope and peace have one source according to Isaiah: The Lord. The longings of our heart will be answered. Not in a political structure, not an education system, but in a person. Isaiah tells us there is one to come, the Lord and He will rule and teach. We know 2500 years later that Isaiah is talking of Jesus. He has already begun that work coming on Christmas. And we know that He will return one day to do exactly what Isaiah 2 says. But until that day, just like Isaiah wrote way back then, “Come…let us walk in the light of the Lord.”

1. Where do people around you look for hope and peace? Where is your ONE looking for hope and peace?
2. Is your hope being depleted by circumstances in your life? How do today’s verses encourage and challenge you?

Prayer

Pray in response to today’s reading.

Worship Song

You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:

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Questions?