Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting. – Isaiah 16:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 20, 2013): Isaiah 15 & 16

Economist Harry Veryser has released a book on the tragedy of Detroit entitled “It Didn’t Have to be This Way.” The book examines the decline of the City of Detroit. Veryser places the blame for the woes of the city on decisions that were made a long time ago. According to Veryser, who grew up in Detroit, in its heyday Detroit found its strength in the fact that it was a collection of small communities. The decline began when the city administrators decided to do two things; the first was to institute an “income tax” making Detroit a very expensive place to live and do business. This choice of Detroit city executives created a business environment that, for many businesses, began to move just outside the city limits forever changing the structure of the city. But a second factor in the demise of the city was that the city to begin to segregate industry, commercial and residential land. In this decision (which was made over 50 years ago) the seeds of the city’s destruction were sewn. It was with this decision that the community structure of the city began to be dismantled, and with the destruction of the community, crime began to increase in the city.

For Veryser, Detroit’s destruction was found in its own efforts to be something that it was never intended to be. Detroit was a proud city, and it desired to be a modern city rather than a collection of communities. But in that decision, the city threw away what made it both special and successful. And it just didn’t have to be that way.

Isaiah laments over the destruction of Moab. The once proud nation now lay in ruins. The orchards that once had made grown Moab’s famous grapes now lay empty. There are no shouts, no joy and no happiness. No one works any longer at the task of creating wine. But what makes the destruction of Moab such a sad event is that it really didn’t have to be that way. There were choices that could have saved Moab. But Moab refused to move down the path they needed to take. Israel had offered Moab the help that it needed to survive, but pride stopped the nation from accepting the help of the people of God. Instead of making the choice that would lead to the health of the nation, they made a choice that would lead to destruction. As Isaiah sees the empty vineyards, he sees a future that was totally unnecessary.

We are created as a people with a choice. We do not believe in an unescapable fate, we believe that we create our own futures with our own decisions. And much of the disaster of our lives is unnecessary – and totally avoidable. All it takes live successful lives is a willingness to swallow our pride and arrogance, recognize our dependence on God - and work at making right decisions.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 17