Isaiah 28:14-18 New International Version (NIV) 14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge
and falsehood[a] our hiding place.” 16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic. 17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place. 18 Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.
Tuesday - December 22
A plumb line is a string with a weight at the end. Before our modern bubble levels a plumb line would be used to determine if something was truly vertical or not. Jesus is the plumb line that judges us! Do we promote life or death? Do we help people or condemn them? Do we see others as a gift from God or treat them as a means to an end? The plumb line of the cross shows that we are all “off” and need to be “reset” and “rebuilt” upon the “sure foundation” of Jesus. That is what Jesus has come to do at Christmas! Prayer: Heavenly Father, build our faith upon the cornerstone of salvation and forgiveness in Jesus, the One who makes us righteous and upright. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.