A WORD FOR TODAY, February 17, 2023
Peggy Hoppes
We pray you have been blessed by this daily devotion. If you received it from a friend, you can see other devotions and studies by visiting our website at www.awordfortoday.org.
Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, February 17, 2023
“Now Yahweh said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.’” Genesis 12:1-3, WEB
Have you ever read a book that was so good you just had to share it with everyone you know? Over the years I have had some children’s books that I’ve bought for my friend’s children and inspirational books that I thought would help others through tough times. Even if I can’t give them copies, I recommend them to as many people as I can. I keep these books in my library so that I can loan them to people who might be interested. A good book is a real gift, and it is important to share such gifts with others.
Some people are fanatical about keeping their books in perfect condition. They do not like to have the pages bent or the binding creased. For this reason, many people do not even open their bibles. I’ve known folks who are upset to see writing in the margins or highlighting on the words. To them, the bible is meant to stay pristine, even if that means it is never opened. They consider it a holy book that should not be touched or used. It is almost blasphemous to crinkle a page. The trouble with this attitude is that the Bible is a great gift from God which is meant to be used, studied, learned, and loved. I have worn out more bibles than I can count. We should not be throwing it around or purposely damaging the pages, but we can’t know what God has to say to us if we never open His love letter.
Unfortunately, too many Christians are like those unopened Bibles. They have faith in Christ but never take that faith beyond the church doors or the privacy of their homes. They don’t share the gifts they have with others; they don’t share the message of the Gospel with those who need to hear it. Christ died that we might be saved. Isn’t this a gift meant to be shared? Jesus lives so that we will have eternal life with God forevermore. Shouldn’t we be blessing others with this incredible gift? Forgiveness is not just for one person; it is for everyone. But how will they know if they never hear? We are blessed to be a blessing.
We have no problem accepting the gifts that God has to give to us. We easily hear the first part of the promise in today’s passage: that God will bless us and make us great. We love that God will bless our friends and curse our enemies. We fall short remembering that we are blessed for a purpose; we are blessed to be a blessing to others. While the blessings given to Abram are different than the promises we have received in Christ, this promise is meant for us all. We are children of Abraham and benefit from his righteousness, but we are also expected to share our blessings with others.
It does no good for us to be a Christian hidden behind our weekday flesh. We are called to be open books, to actively live our faith every day in every way, revealing God’s grace with our family, friends, and neighbors whether they are believers or not. We don’t know what might come of our witness. We may never see the results of our gifts in the lives of others. That does not matter. God does not bless us to keep it for ourselves. His gift of life is better than any of our favorite books. He gives us abundantly everything we need to do His work, more than we can ever imagine or consume. Like that good book we can’t keep to ourselves, why would we ever keep God’s word from being shared with others?
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org