Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
Ahaz won't do what the LORD asks and masks it as piety. The LORD wants him to ask for a sign. This is completely different from someone arbitrarily demanding a sign for their own purposes. Ahaz is doing fine, or so he thinks. He is probably justifiably afraid that God will completely shake things up. Fortunately, the LORD doesn't let this lack of cooperation stop his plans. Yet he waits to bring the sign to fruition. He waits for someone who will receive his plan, and who, even while afraid, will embrace it.
Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word."
The call today is to be more Mary than Ahaz. The LORD sometimes speaks to us words which seem to have frighteningly far reaching implications that we can only guess at. We need to learn to trust in his will. He's already considered every detail. The end result will be better than we can imagine.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.
Trusting God in this way allows us to be involved in bringing the presence of Emmanuel to the world. And the world desperately needs to know how close God wants to come. Let's not miss this opportunity. Let's say yes when God asks us to play our part.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
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