The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

The imagery here is so amazing it is almost overwhelming. As I was reading this, two active verbs stood out to me: anointed and sent. Anointed is a status of honor. Kings are anointed. So we have been given positions of honor in God’s family, in our place here on planet earth. Sent is a calling, but it also involves an equipping. When people are sent out on an adventure, journey, or mission, those friends sending them intentionally equip them with money, supplies, resources and tools. God does this for us too. In Ephesians‬ ‭1:3, Paul confirms this (emphasis mine): “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in Christ.” Every spiritual blessing is already mine in Christ Jesus! This is hard to believe sometimes, when I feel worn out and depleted — but it is true.

And so finally comes the rewards, the part of the mission to get “jacked” about. We get to experience something just like the mythical Midas, who turned everything in his path to gold, but better. 1) We get to have the spiritual “gold” of “proclaiming good news to the poor”. News that they matter and we will share with them as Christians. 2) we get to have spiritual rubies, in the form of “binding up the captives”, the sapphires of “proclaiming freedom for the captives, the diamonds of “providing freedom for the captives”, the emeralds of “releasing the prisoners from darkness”, and the turquoise of “comforting all who mourn”. As anointed servants of the living God, we get to bestow on people called into God’s kingdom: garments of praise, crowns of beauty, and anoint them with the oil of joy! What an incredible spiritual haul of riches and honors! I am so highly honored and gifted in Christ.

Lord, thank you for the riches of your anointing and calling in my life. Living out of a life sent on mission for you is amazingly awesome and incredibly rewarding! Praise you for this wonderfulness in Christ you have bestowed upon me!