Genesis 12:1–4a (NRSV)
Read Genesis 12:1–4a on biblegateway.com
Chapter 12Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. Verse 2I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. Verse 3I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Verse 4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Devotion
The scripture texts this week attest “God Loved the World,” and the good news starts in Genesis when the Lord chose Abram. Yet, as Martin Luther noted, Abram (Abraham) was no plaster saint, an idolater who made a mess with his family, lied to Pharaoh about his wife, then fathered Ishmael with their servant Hagar.
But God has a mission: “I will bless you.” You have a commission: “So that you will be a blessing.” God loves you first, and that’s just the beginning. Working through mere mortals, like you, God intends to bless the world and all its peoples. Named and claimed in the water and word of baptism, you were called and sent to “bear God’s creative and redeeming word to all the world.”
So what will happen today, O child of God? How will God’s blessing work in you to love those close to you and care for strangers, even those who curse you, and to bless God’s creation?
Prayer
You have blessed me, Lord God, with life, with relationships, with opportunities to be a blessing in the world you so love. Open my eyes and warm my heart to extend your blessing in all I am and do this day in the light and love of Christ Jesus. Amen.