Christ Church Daily Devotion June 19 2024

In today's Daily Devotion, we read from Genesis 12:1-3 where God tells Abram to leave his country and go to a new land. Abram obediently goes on a long journey, and God promises to bless him and make him a great nation. The theme of blessing and promise is important throughout Genesis. God's blessings are powerful and life-sustaining, and they extend to all people. We are called to share God's blessings with others, whether they are nearby or far away. We must listen to God's voice and be willing to go where He leads us. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion for June 19, 2024. Today we will be reading from Genesis chapter 12 verses 1 through 3. The Lord had said to Abram, Go from your country, your people, and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse. And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. As we are focusing on the life lessons for the people of God from the book of Genesis, this scripture is a core passage for us to remember. God begins to create a people who will represent God to all the world and join God in blessing all the people of the earth. This was a huge step of faith for Abram and his family. The first three words in verse 4 in the RSV are, So Abram went. The second part of verse 4 tells us that Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran to Canaan. And this was a 550 to 600 mile journey on foot, depending on the route that they traveled. But the important lesson here is that God called Abram to leave his family, things that are familiar, all the surroundings, to go a great distance to a very unfamiliar surrounding. And Abram was faithful and obedient to go where God was sending him. God's blessing becomes a key theme in the scriptures which follow. In fact, the word bless or blessing is used 88 times in Genesis. Along with God's blessing, it is accompanied with the faithfulness of God's promise. Blessing and promise are gifts from God. Dr. Terence E. Fretham writes in the New Interpreter's Bible, The blessing that God promises to Abram has deep levels of continuity with the blessing he has experienced in his life to this point. But his new promise is something more, something beyond what the creation in and of itself can provide. Within creation, blessing is powerful, life-enabling, and life-sustaining, but finally insufficient for the fullest possible life. The promises bring blessing into the sphere of redemption. God will work and give blessing and promise through creation and redemption. This will continue on through Abram unto all the people of the earth. We receive God's blessing to also be a blessing and hear God's call to share God's blessing with all the peoples on earth. How often do we keep God's blessing to ourselves or with others in our own families or familiar circles? Would we be willing to travel over 600 miles by foot to an unfamiliar place and people to share that blessing with others? Your personal worship option today? Sometimes we are called to join God in blessing our next-door neighbors, and sometimes we are called to join God in blessing others on the opposite side of the world from us. The key is listening to the still, small voice of God and being willing to go wherever God is leading us, remembering God's faithfulness always.