Week 3 Thursday
Today we watch Abraham secure a small foothold in the land of promise, hear David despair over those who deny God altogether, and stand in awe with the crowds as Jesus raises the dead and answers John the Baptist's doubts.
Genesis 23
📖 What are we reading? Sarah dies, and Abraham buys a burial site from the Hittites, in a vivid picture of the method of sale common at the time.
✞ What does this passage say about God? In buying this piece of land, Abraham became a legal owner of part of Canaan - partially fulfilling the promise God had made to him, one small step at a time.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? God's promises are often fulfilled gradually rather than all at once. Abraham didn't see the whole promise in his lifetime, but he held onto it faithfully, even in grief.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: Genesis, meaning "beginnings", was written by Moses around 1400 BC, and covers the story of creation, the fall, and the origins of God's chosen people, Israel.
Psalm 14
📖 What are we reading? David can't imagine how somebody can deny God's existence - and yet many do, then and now.
✞ What does this passage say about God? He is in the company of the righteous (verse 5), and, though the Psalm paints a bleak picture of humanity, it looks ahead to the salvation God would bring through Jesus.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? David sings of the uselessness of atheism, and in the last three verses reminds us of God's faithfulness. Let those words cause you to worship today.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: The Psalms is a collection of 150 poems and songs, written by David and others, expressing the full range of human emotion in response to God and to life.
Luke 7:1-35
📖 What are we reading? Jesus heals a Roman centurion's servant from a distance, raises a widow's only son from the dead at Nain, and then responds to John the Baptist's doubts from prison.
✞ What does this passage say about God? What power Jesus has! Are we "filled with awe" (verse 16), as the crowds were, reading these accounts today?
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live? Jesus addresses John the Baptist's doubts about Him. If John could doubt, we are in good company if we struggle too - but let us not be "reeds swayed in the wind" (verse 24).
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: Luke's Gospel was written by Luke, a Greek physician and companion of Paul, around AD 60-62. It is the most detailed account of Jesus' life, and is especially attentive to the poor, to women, and to outcasts.
A Prayer for the Day
🙏 Lord, thank You that Your promises unfold in Your time, even when we can't see the whole picture. Fill us with awe at Your power, and meet us in our doubts as You met John's. Amen.
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