Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let no eunuch complain,
    “I am only a dry tree.”

4 For this is what the Lord says:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose what pleases me
    and hold fast to my covenant—
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls
    a memorial and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that will endure forever.
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
    to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
    and who hold fast to my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.

There is often a disconnect between what God says about us, and what we say about ourselves. We may well fall short of all God has for us if we permit our own thoughts and opinions of ourselves to prevail. We’ll be looking at our lives through the wrong set of lenses. Humility is one thing. But there can be a way of thinking and speaking about ourselves that is close to an insult to God’s gracious work in our lives.

Be careful with your words.


”Make sure no outsider who now follows God
    ever has occasion to say, ‘God put me in second-class.
    I don’t really belong.’
And make sure no physically mutilated person
    is ever made to think, ‘I’m damaged goods.
    I don’t really belong.’”

4-5 For God says:

“To the mutilated who keep my Sabbaths
    and choose what delights me
    and keep a firm grip on my covenant,
I’ll provide them an honoured place
    in my family and within my city,
    even more honoured than that of sons and daughters.
I’ll confer permanent honours on them
    that will never be revoked.

6-8 “And as for the outsiders who now follow me,
    working for me, loving my name,
    and wanting to be my servants—
All who keep Sabbath and don’t defile it,
    holding fast to my covenant—
I’ll bring them to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
They’ll be welcome to worship the same as the ‘insiders,’
    to bring burnt offerings and sacrifices to my altar.” (From ‘The Message’).

This passage is about the coming of Gentiles into the church on an equal footing with Jews (see Eph.2:11-22). We will think a little more about this next time.