Welcome to the Blue Ocean Advent devotional podcast. This is day fifteen. I’m Emily, and I’ll be your guide.
Let’s start with a moment of gratitude. I’ll give you 15 seconds of silence to think about something you’re thankful for, and to thank God for it. Let’s begin now.
[15 seconds of silence]
Now we’ll move on to our petitionary prayer. Today we’ll pray that God’s joy will be present in our relationships—especially those closest and most precious to us. Let’s take 25 seconds of silence to pray.
[25 seconds of silence]
Our Scripture reading today comes from Isaiah 29:13–16. It begins:
The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”
You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
“You know nothing”?
We’ll close today by meditating on the phrase:
Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”
Take a few moments now to pray that God will expose things done in secret that are meant to harm others.
Our Concluding Prayer:
Creator, almighty and everlasting, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus my Lord. Amen