The Pastor’s Pen By Rev. Joel Cochran The Chapel in Marlboro Look Up! The prophet Isaiah is an interesting fellow. Called as a prophet to Israel about 750 years before Christ, his nation is about to experience collapse and foreign capture. He proclaims truth desperately. He foresees Israel’s collapse as occurring from within – a result of deteriorating morals and civility which in turn are a result of unbelief in God. But after several messages of heartbroken warnings, Isaiah gives a message of hope. That message of hope is “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22). That is where morality begins: the nature of God, who has spoken and revealed what He is like and what makes His world (and your life in it) operate effectively. Add to that the traditions of previous generations (their discoveries of what works) and reasoned experience and you have the formula for a culture’s morality. For an individual’s morality, too. Israel needed renewal both within and without – inside the person and outside in behavior. Think of the words “Look to Me…” These words must have cheered Isaiah for a time. Jewish tradition says the life of Isaiah ended in martyrdom. He was finally silenced by being sawed in two, and this tradition is captured in the New Testament passage of Hebrews 11:37. Those words can cheer you. “Look to Me” – as you go through life, don’t forget to look up! Glenn Van Ekeren, in his book Words for All Occasions, tells this story: A small boy, walking along one bright summer day, spotted a copper penny glistening at his feet. He picked it up and clutched it protectively. He felt a glow of pride and excitement. It was his, and it cost him nothing! From that day on, wherever he went, he walked with his head down, eyes surveying the ground for more treasure. During his lifetime, he found 302 pennies, 24 nickels, 41 dimes, 8 quarters, 3 half dollars, and one worn out dollar bill. The total of his finds was $12.82. The money had cost him nothing – except that he missed the breathless beauty of 35,127 sunsets, the colorful splendor of 327 rainbows, the brilliance of hundreds of maples nipped by the autumn frost, babies growing, white clouds floating across the crystal blue sky, birds flying, animals running, sun shining, and the smiles of passing people. There is a real delight in looking to God. We can find purpose to living, joy in circumstances, inner strength and wisdom for life’s difficulties, reason for the giving of thanks in life’s delights and blessings. Don’t forget to … look up!