Day 27 of Lent: April 4, 2025

Isaiah 43:18–25

18 Do not remember the former things    

or consider the things of old.

19 I am about to do a new thing;    

now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness    

and rivers in the desert.

20 The wild animals will honor me,    

the jackals and the ostriches,for I give water in the wilderness,   

 rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people,

21 the people whom I formed for myself

so that they might declare my praise.

22 Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob;    

but you have been weary of me, O Israel!

23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings    

or honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings    

or wearied you with frankincense.

24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money    

or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.

Rather, you have burdened me with your sins;    

you have wearied me with your iniquities.

25 I alone am the one    

who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,    

and I will not remember your sins.

It seems I am constantly getting messages and emails and ads and more ads wanting me to buy something that is new and improved. It feels like I don’t own something 5 minutes before a new model is available!

This reality is not new. Years ago I worked with a teacher who got anew carat the start of every school year. She just had to have the latest model.

Truth is we live in a world that constantly seeks the new—new fashion, new hair styles, new trends, new technology, new appliances.. It gets so noisy we miss out on the most important things put before us.

This reality was also true for the Hebrew people. They too lived in a noisy world. But in Isaiah 43, God interrupts the noise with something deeper, something new but also eternal: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!”

These words were spoken to a people who were worn down by captivity, weighed down by failure, and burdened by regret. They longed for the days when God had parted seas and toppled empires for their sake. But instead of giving them a history lesson, God gave them a promise: “I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

This isn’t just a word for Israel. It’s a word for us. During this season of Lent, we walk through our own wilderness—confessing sin, acknowledging our brokenness, and confronting the ways we’ve tried to make life work on our own terms buying into new worldly things over external ones.

If you're like me you have gone through seasons when we haven’t called on God, when we’ve wandered, when we’ve added to the noise instead of seeking the stillness. And yet, God still speaks: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

Friends that is grace.

God isn’t offering a spiritual software update or a moral lifestyle improvement plan. God is doing something entirely new. Our Creator making a way. God is offering living water, not just to quench our momentary thirst, but to give us an ever-flowing spring of living water.

Friends, Jesus is that new thing. He is the Way through our wilderness. The One who forgives, heals, and restores. The One who covers our sins with His own sacrifice—making what was once dirty and tarnished, beautiful.

And while the world’s “new” quickly becomes obsolete, the mercy of God never does. They are new everyday by the grace of God. God’s compassion is new every morning. God’s forgiveness never expires. God’s love is not a a part of the world’s history, but a very present reality.

So, as we journey from ashes to alleluia, let us not dwell in yesterday’s failures or tomorrow’s fears. Let us walk with open hearts into the new thing God is doing—trusting in the One who makes all things new.

Alleluia Amen.

Prayer:

Gracious God, we confess that we often dwell in the past—regretting what we’ve done or wishing for what used to be. But today, help us perceive the new thing You are doing. Make a way in our wilderness. Create streams in our dry places. And by Your grace, blot out our sin, that we might rise with Christ to new life. Amen.