Isaiah 57:14-15

Speaking for God, the prophet says: "My home is a high and holy place, but I am with the humble and contrite to revive their spirit."

The prophet says God will bring the chosen people home, but asks that those who are to be blessed be worthy. It is not fasting that God requires, however, but mercy and justice. God dwells in the lives of the righteous.

The people of Israel believed that God came to them on Zion, on the holy hill in Jerusalem where Solomon had built a temple for their God. But the prophet reminds the exiles from Jerusalem, who are captives in Babylon and thus far from their holy place, that God is nonetheless with them. The God who made the breath of life resides not only on a hill but in the lives of those with faith.

Grace and peace...Bob