2026 Pentecost Devotions II
Monday, September 28
Isaiah 5:1-7
1 I will sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded rotten grapes.
3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield rotten grapes?
5 And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a wasteland;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his cherished garden;
he expected justice
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness
but heard a cry!
“… 1 I will sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: …”
Last week, at our spiritual retreat, we read and studied a book by Henri J. M. Nouwen, “Life of the Beloved”. In it, the author reminds his readers that we are all beloved of God. While we sometimes don’t recognize or acknowledge our belovedness, that doesn’t make it any less so.
The people of Israel were God’s beloved. God had delivered them from Pharoah’s brickyards, led them through the wilderness, defeated their enemies, and settled them in the promised land. God did everything for God’s people. Yet, they rejected the Lord. They disobeyed the commandments and worshipped other gods. Rather than recognizing and acknowledging their belovedness, they turned their backs on God.
Nouwen reminds us that we are all God’s beloved children. We have been forgiven and delivered from sin and death through Jesus Christ. God has poured out upon us the Holy Spirit to enable and inspire us to faithfulness to God and love for on another. Recognizing and acknowledging that belovedness leads us toward a life of love of God and love of neighbor.
Prayer: Beloved One, you love us all with an everlasting love. As Your beloved children, inspire us to seek You with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and teach us to serve others in Your name. Amen.