Go for your dreams: Is 62:8-9

“The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm, ‘I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.’ But those who garner it will eat it and praise the Lord; and those who gather it will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.” (Isaiah 62:8-9)

Webster defines “garner” as “to acquire by effort.” The things of the Kingdom of God do not always come easily. Sometimes it takes some effort to acquire what God has for us. Consider Jesus’ promise, “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.” (Luke 11:10) In the Greek, the tense used for the verbs implies a continual effort. For example, the verse could easily be translated, “For everyone who asks, and keeps on asking, receives.” In the Kingdom, receiving, finding, and having doors opened for you takes the continual effort of asking, seeking, and knocking. The Kingdom of God is not apprehended by the passive, but by those who energetically pursue it. Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12)

In this verse, the Lord wants to encourage our hearts that our efforts in Him are not in vain. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58) It is as if God is giving us permission to “go for it!” Now is not the time for timidness. Now is not the time to be fearful. Now is the time to press forward into all God has for us. God has given each one of us dreams and visions for our lives and now is the time to reach forward to lay hold of those dreams and visions. God wants to give us our dreams and He wants those dreams to produce praise for Him from our hearts. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12) What has God put in your heart? What ever it is, God says “go for it!”

David Robison