The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Genesis 24-26
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 1: The People: God calls a covenant people
Background Information: Genesis 24-26
The “servant” of Abraham is a nameless but faithful man. He obeys Abraham and goes in search of a wife for Isaac. He doesn’t pray and ask God to bring a wife to him, he makes the arduous journey himself. When he arrives, he asks God for success, and it is granted. When he is successful he doesn’t take credit but bows before the Lord and gives him glory. This is a great example of how faith and faithfulness are expressed in a believer’s life. We do the work to obey God, we ask him to bless our efforts, and we give him glory when he does. It is never either God’s grace OR our faithfulness, it is always both. We live fully by grace and offer full grit and give full glory to God. The story moves quickly to the birth of Jacob and Esau. Jacob shows himself to be a ruthless man, willing to do anything to get ahead. Esau is revealed to be a man who lives by his desires and instincts, willing to do anything to get what he wants in the moment. It seems we are left with two poor choices to be heirs of the covenant of God. God doesn’t choose because of how good the choices are, but rather in line with his own sovereign purposes. The prophet Hosea will sum up Jacob’s life like this: “In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and as an adult he wrestled with God.” (Hosea 12:3) Jacob would learn to trust God, but it would be largely through suffering. Wrestling with God is, of course, no real competition because God always wins. However, Jacob’s wrestling will lead to his finally giving up on trying to make life happen by his own strength. This lesson will leave him with a lifelong limp, but it is better to limp trusting God than to run, arrogantly trusting self.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Ask God for the River youth. Ask God to strengthen them in the faith. Pray they would grow in boldness and be faithful to gospel community.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.