Christ Church Daily Devotion Nov 29 2023

God's covenant with Abraham is the focus of today's devotion. The covenant is different from a contract or promise as it is God's deep commitment to be faithful to humankind. Our role is to trust and follow God's ways. Abraham obeyed and left everything to follow God. The purpose of the covenant is to create a people and bring God's blessing to others. The Hebrew word "hesed" describes God's character of loving kindness and mercy. We are called to respond to this gift of covenant relationship. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion for November 29th, 2023. Today we will be reading from Genesis chapter 12, verse 1 through 3. The Lord had said to Abram, Go from your country, your people and your father's household, to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse. And all peoples on earth will be blessings through you. This week we are focusing on gifts God gave us in the Old Testament, part of the biblical story. Today we are celebrating God's giving, the gift of initiating a covenant relationship with Abraham. And through God's covenant with Abraham, God wants to bless all the families of the earth. The word covenant isn't common in our everyday conversations. God's covenant with humankind is different from a contract or even a promise. It is God's deep and abiding commitment out of God's love to be faithful and trustworthy to God's own creation of humankind. We human beings are not always faithful or trustworthy, but God continues to pursue us and to be faithful to the covenant from the beginning. Our role is to respond with trust and relinquish our will to follow in God's ways. Writers Richard and Julia Wilk in the Disciple Eye Bible Study add that the hinge verse is Genesis 12 verse 4. So Abraham went as the Lord had told him. Abraham left everything that was familiar to him and followed where God was leading to a new land. J. Ellsworth Caylus writes, The purpose of the biblical covenant is to create a people. In the biblical story, God makes covenants with individuals, but they are never for their exclusive benefit. Caylus reminds us that throughout history, we struggle to remember we are also called to bring God's blessing of covenant relationship to others. Today's personal worship option, the Hebrew word hesed, is used 245 times in the Old Testament. It speaks to the character of God as loving kindness, mercy, goodness, love, steadfast love, and faithful love. This is the character of God who initiates giving the gift of a covenant relationship with each other and all of us. How will we respond?