Isaiah 61:1-4 [Modern English Version]
The Lord’s Favor
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me
because the Lord has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor;
He has sent me to heal the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn,
to preserve those who mourn in Zion,
to give to them beauty
for ashes,
the oil of joy
for mourning,
the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord,
that He might be glorified.
They shall build the old ruins;
they shall raise up the former desolations,
and they shall repair the waste cities,
the desolations of many generations.
REFLECTION
Originally written by: Glenda Bartlett Taylor Bettridge
Reviewed & edited by: Vanessa Taylor
Among the mountains, where the grass is shorter, one can watch with tireless fascination the long running lines of light on the distant heights, something like the illumination of a town seen from far away. With morning, the scene changes. You lift your eyes to greet the mountains you love and they answer you with blackened faces. A little longer, these same hills are clothed in springing green, and from the ashes, one of the first flowers rise — the fire lily — like a little scarlet flame.
Beauty for ashes. The message of Isaiah 61:3 comes with a deeper meaning as we consider the fire lily. It’s story unfolds the Old Testament promise in the radiance of New Testament light. Where the fire has been there springs from the ashes of the old life the beauty of life in Christ. As more ground is daily yielded, on the hills of our inner life, the bare slopes will burst with blossom. One unburnt hill will mean a jungle growth of grass and weeds. No fire, no fire lily. No ashes, no beauty. This is the secret of the fire lily. This is the meaning of surrender.
Factual information: Rising from the ashes after fires, the fire lily creates vibrant red and pink displays across the Cape Fold Mountains of South Africa.
Fire lilies form part of the fynbos, a biodiverse belt of heathland that runs through the Western and Eastern Cape.
A key part of the local ecosystem, fire lilies are exclusively pollinated by the Table Mountain pride butterfly (Aeropetes tulbaghia). Research reference: kew.org.
PRAYER POEM: Ablaze
Written by: Vanessa Taylor
Love of great capacity is forged in fiery reality;
Lit from above, ablaze on the altar of sacrificial love;
Fuelling faith fashioned in the fire, emerging with holy desire, exalting the One whose ways are infinitely higher.
