PODCAST
Ordered to Appear
July 26th, 2013
Isaiah 44:1-5, 21-28
Summons can be terrifying. Most do not like to be summoned for jury duty or to testify before a court.
On the other hand, summons can bring pleasant surprises. The school principal may call a student to the office, not for punishment but to notify him of receiving a scholarship. An anxious man is summoned by name from the father’s waiting area to hear the doctor say, “Your newborn son and wife are fine. You can see them now.” Customers summoned by a big box store manager, learned a stranger had paid off Christmas lay-away accounts.
The best summons is from God. God has summoned you by name. He wants you to know that Christ’s death on the cross has made reconciliation between you and God possible. He declares, “You are mine.” When God summoned me, I went to the altar sobbing, convicted, guilty, and despairing, but the news I received was better than the principal’s office or the doctor’s news. My sins were blotted out. I am redeemed. I am glad I obeyed the summons to forgiveness and again to heart holiness.
Author: Blair F. Rorabaugh
