The Bible has two parts. The first part is called the Old Testament. All of the books in the Old Testament were written down before Jesus was born. The stories of Jesus, the Gospels, are in the New Testament.

Testament is a funny word, right? What does it mean? It means: I want to testify to the truth. I want to tell you something important. Something wonderful.

In the Old Testament, we have the words of the Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah lived a very long time ago. Six hundred years before Jesus. That means 2600 years before us!

Isaiah has something wonderful to tell us today across all of these centuries.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He never grows tired. He is understanding of all. He lifts up the weak and supports the poor. God knows that all of his people, even youths and children, in their lives will sometimes fall down exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall be renewed, they shall mount up like eagles, they shall run and not get tired, they shall walk and not faint.

This does not mean you will win every marathon you run! It means that whatever you do to become a better person or make the world a better place, God will be with you. God will lift you up with love. God will breathe energy into your good works.

And it will feel like God raising you up on eagle’s wings! It will feel like God is holding you in the palms of his hands!

Isaiah’s words are so encouraging that someone wrote a song about them. Maybe you have heard it before. Sometimes we sing it in church. It’s very beautiful! You can listen to the CFJ Choir sing it by clicking here!

Spirituality The Episcopal Church Children's Homily Epiphany Podcast The Rev. Joan L. Peacock