Proper 5 / Pentecost 3 / OT 10
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
-- Genesis 12:3
This is one of the key passages in the Old Testament. It is the beginning of the family of faith that will become known as the Jews. Prior to this story, the Bible stories were about humanity in general. Now they begin to speak of history and a particular family in a particular place and time. God entered history by speaking to a specific person and making a promise to that person. No explanation is given as to why God chose this family and not another. It happened when Abram was 75 years old. What would normally be seen as the end of life became a radical new beginning. It began with the God of the universe asking one person, Abram, to trust God enough to leave behind all the normal signs of security and to venture forth into an unknown future based on a promise from an invisible God.
All the challenges in our own faith journey are pictured here. Faith is a relationship between finite humans and an infinite, invisible God. Faith requires trust in the promise offered by this God. It asks us to leave behind the normal ways we seek to secure our lives. Abram left behind the familiarity of place, connections, and status and responded to a call to a better way of life that was never fully described. Faith asks us to venture toward a future beyond ourselves and affects not only our unborn family but also the whole world. While our story of faith is particular, God's intent is universal. The reason God entered time to speak to Abram was to begin a process by which "all the families of the earth shall be blessed." God's purpose from the beginning was to reconcile the whole world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19).
-- Genesis 12:3
This is one of the key passages in the Old Testament. It is the beginning of the family of faith that will become known as the Jews. Prior to this story, the Bible stories were about humanity in general. Now they begin to speak of history and a particular family in a particular place and time. God entered history by speaking to a specific person and making a promise to that person. No explanation is given as to why God chose this family and not another. It happened when Abram was 75 years old. What would normally be seen as the end of life became a radical new beginning. It began with the God of the universe asking one person, Abram, to trust God enough to leave behind all the normal signs of security and to venture forth into an unknown future based on a promise from an invisible God.
All the challenges in our own faith journey are pictured here. Faith is a relationship between finite humans and an infinite, invisible God. Faith requires trust in the promise offered by this God. It asks us to leave behind the normal ways we seek to secure our lives. Abram left behind the familiarity of place, connections, and status and responded to a call to a better way of life that was never fully described. Faith asks us to venture toward a future beyond ourselves and affects not only our unborn family but also the whole world. While our story of faith is particular, God's intent is universal. The reason God entered time to speak to Abram was to begin a process by which "all the families of the earth shall be blessed." God's purpose from the beginning was to reconcile the whole world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19).
