Time and Time Again
Reverend J. Loren Russell
Isaiah 46:1–4 NKJV
“Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle. Your carriages were heavily loaded, a burden to the weary beast. 2 They stoop, they bow down together; They could not deliver the burden, but have themselves gone into captivity. 3 Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from birth, who have been carried from the womb: 4 Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”
How many times do we go back to the same old things we used to do? How often do we return to the same places, reclaim old habits, and give them new names? Time and time again.
The prophet Isaiah recognized this pattern in Israel. They had adopted the religious culture of the land around them and turned to idols like Bel and Nebo. But idol worship was nothing new for Israel.
When Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the Israelites took the gold they had brought out of Egypt, molded it into a golden calf, and began worshiping it. Time and time again, they went back.
Isaiah mocks their idols by pointing out their inability to do what God does. The idols had to be loaded onto ox carts because they couldn’t carry themselves. The people had to carry their gods, but their gods could not carry them. The New Living Translation puts it plainly:
“The gods cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect the gods. They go off into captivity together.”
What a contrast!
Israel was carrying something that could not carry them. But then God reminds them: “I have upheld you from birth…I have carried you from the womb.” While they were carrying their idols, God was carrying them.
Preacher and teacher J. Vernon McGee asks a penetrating question:
“Does your religion carry you, or do you carry your religion?”
Isaiah makes it clear that the God of Israel was not another burden for them to carry. He was the One carrying their sins, their griefs, their sorrows, their cares, and their burdens. And the promise wasn’t limited to one moment.
God said:
“Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you!”
In other words, I’ve been carrying you, and I’m not about to stop now!
We may return to old habits time and time again. We may stumble time and time again. We may fall time and time again. But God’s grace has met us time and time again. He has carried us when we couldn’t carry ourselves. He has delivered us when we couldn’t deliver ourselves. He has sustained us when we didn’t have the strength to sustain ourselves. And He reminds us today:
“I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.”
So don’t go back to what couldn’t carry you. Go forward with the God who has carried you! He carried you then. He’s carrying you now. And He will carry you going forward…, time and time again!
Be Blessed!
Rev. J. Loren Russell is an associate minister at Goodwill Baptist Church and is the clergy officiant of the Evangelical Church of God, all in the Bronx, President/CEO of The JLR Company for Church Financial & Strategic Consulting (718-328-8096), and hosts “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” on Monday nights from 8:00 – 10:00 PM on Facebook Live. Be sure to Friend “Matters of Faith” on YouTube and email us at mattersoffaith.mof@gmail.com. Order your copy of Matters of Faith: The eBook at www.smashwords.com/books/view/993177
For the printed magazine page, I would make “Time and Time Again” a large serif headline, place the Isaiah passage in a shaded or lightly tinted scripture box, and use “Does your religion carry you, or do you carry your religion?” as the primary pull quote. That would give the column a strong Shepherd’s Corner appearance without changing Rev. Russell’s message.
