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Devotions in preparation for Sunday:

Read Genesis 22:1-14. This is a difficult situation to figure out. What kind of God would ask this of Abraham? First, Abraham lives for decades with the knowledge and shame that he has no rightful heir, then with the joy that despite impossible odds, he has been given a son. Now, he is to offer that beloved son back to God by killing him on the altar. Wow. While this story can certainly be understood as a test of Abraham’s faith in God, it seems just as much a testament to God’s faith in Abraham. I’m not sure God would have asked this of Abraham if there was any question in God’s mind about whether Abraham would obey. 

Have you ever felt like there were circumstances in life that put your faith to the test? In those times, did you feel as if you had been abandoned by God or did you trust, as Abraham did, that God would provide a way out? We can also learn from Abraham that even when things seemed to be past the point of no return, he was still looking up, still looking for God to rescue him from the unimaginable. That’s when he noticed the ram, which might have been there all along. 

In prayer, ask God to lift your eyes to the signs of redemptive love that are already around you.

Read Psalm 13. We all know about the unlucky number 13. We don’t know what has happened to the author of this psalm. All we know is the writer has fallen on hard enough times to call out to God, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” 

Have there been times in your life when you feel God is distant? Has that distance ever felt so great that you wonder if God has forgotten you? One of the things that I love about my current copy of the Bible is that Psalm 13:1-4 is on one page, and I must turn the page to read verses 5-6. Verses 1-4 is all about feeling forgotten, and God hiding God’s face. Turn the page. Faith steps up in the bleakest of times. When despair sets in, the sacred shows up. The sacred moment when faith reminds us that God is a good God, and God will bring good, not evil, into our lives. That moment of faith looks like verse five. “But I trust in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.” 

Reflect on one of your deepest hopes about a difficult time. Offer that hope to God in a prayer of expectancy.

Read Romans 6:12-23. In this reading, two important words to consider are “from” and “to”. Jesus frees us from the power of sin and death to become the people God wants us to be…from selfishness to selflessness…from self-interest to a life of service…from self-righteousness to God’s righteousness…from self-loathing to God’s steadfast love. 

What has following Jesus delivered you from and where has it taken you to? Who has it delivered you from and who is it delivering you to? 

Offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the freeing power of grace that compels you to become more Christ-like in the way you feel, think, speak, and act.

Read Matthew 10:40-42. In the ancient world, identity was tied to family and community. It was understood that in showing hospitality, one welcomed not just an individual, but implicitly, the community who sent the person and all that they represent. Therefore, welcoming a disciple of Jesus would mean receiving the very presence of Jesus himself and of the one who sent him, God the Father. 

I wonder how we might receive a disciple of Jesus that was sent out with no means to care for themselves. Would we listen to their teaching, or would we reject them? Would we give them something to eat, or would we act like we don’t see them? Would we offer them a drink of water or would we drive on by? How different would we respond if we expectantly looked for Christ in all people? 

Say a prayer asking God that you might see Jesus wherever you look.