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Read Genesis 25:19-34. After almost 20 years of marriage, Isaac and Rebekah finally conceive twins. Her pregnancy is anything but ideal and Rebekah calls upon the Lord for deliverance. Instead, the Lord tells her that not only are the brothers struggling within the womb, that will be the story of their entire relationship. Esau will use his brawn and Jacob will use his brain, and there will never be peace between the two. 

This family’s story mirrors many of our own: infertility, sibling rivalry, parental favoritism…conflict. It seems inevitable that every family will have its own share of conflict, but that doesn’t mean that God cannot redeem these situations and teach us valuable lessons about peacemaking, personal accountability, and forgiveness. 

Think about someone with whom you find yourself in conflict. What is your part in the problem? What would need to happen for the issue to be resolved? What might you learn from this situation? 

In prayer, lift this person into God’s care and ask that God would redeem this relationship.

Read Psalm 119:105-112. Throughout Psalm 119, the psalmist extols the virtue of the Law as found in the scriptures. They understand that the Law isn’t intended to be used as a measuring stick to determine a person’s worthiness of God’s love. Instead, it is to be used as a guide for the individual’s life of faith and for the life of the religious community. It is meant to enlighten and enliven. 

To what degree does scripture inform the way you move through the world? Do you have a regular practice of reading scripture? Is there a particular passage that is the “joy of your heart”? 

Today, spend some time reading or reciting that passage several times slowly. In prayer, ask God what you may need to be hearing in these verses.

Read Romans 8:1-11. Here, Paul is saying that the cares of the world will always be seeking our attention, but because of what Christ accomplished on the cross, we can instead turn our attention towards the new life that is offered to us. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit draws us towards having the mind of Christ, but that is always held in tension with the human parts of us that lure us towards instant gratification, power, and pride. Our salvation does not mean we don’t have the same temptations, but we now have the power of the Holy Spirit within us tempting us towards goodness, gentleness, kindness, compassion, and humility. 

What are the worldly temptations with which you struggle? How does the Spirit help to turn your attention away from those temptations and towards more spiritually healthy thoughts and behaviors?

 In prayer, ask the Spirit to empower you to turn from earthly temptations.

Read Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23. In this parable Jesus describes the conditions of a heart ready to receive and bear the fruit of the gospel. We all find that our hearts are any one of the types of soil he describes at different points in our lives. In fact, we may find that we are like a hard path one day, rocky soil the next, and loose, fertile soil the day after. 

Can you identify times in your life when you were each type of soil? What conditions in your life help your heart to become good soil? What practices amend and fertilize the soil of your heart, making you receptive to the good news and prepared to respond with fruitfulness in your life? As Jesus describes the different types of ground, what lesson do you think he was trying to teach? 

Today, ask for a soft, tender heart ready to receive the good news of Jesus Christ and a spirit that allows those seeds to sprout and take root in your life.