Day 7 - The One Year Adventure with the God of Your Story

Genesis 16:1–18:15; Matthew 6:1-24; Psalm 7:1-17; Proverbs 2:1-5

ABRAHAM RECEIVED A promise from God that his progeny would one day inherit a Promised Land. But Abraham had no children. And in today’s reading, God told Abraham how He was going to fulfill His promise.

“I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!” God told Abraham (Genesis 18:10).

Sarah overheard this and laughed to herself because she was too old to have children. But God confronted her and reiterated that she would in fact bear a son.

What have you been holding out hope for in life? What if you were promised, “About this time next year . . .”? Would hope rise? Or have you been laughing at the impossible?

In our New Testament reading, Jesus has much to teach us about living in the Kingdom of God. Throughout His life on earth, Jesus was the picture of true servanthood, and His words point us to how we should live:

If you’re going to help somebody, don’t make a big deal about it, broadcasting your good deeds so that you get praise and affirmation. If that’s what you’re after, then you already have your reward. But if you want to find a correct heart’s posture, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Do it in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward.

When you pray, don’t be fake and proclaim elaborate and complex prayers so everyone can see how “godly” and “spiritual” you are. Go into your private room, pray to your Father in secret, and he will hear you.^a

And then—a statement that we ignore at our own peril: “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15).

Mic drop. Jaw drop.

Forgiveness is not an option in God’s Kingdom. But forgiveness does not mean that we pretend things didn’t happen. Rather, it means that we have a place to release those people and events in our lives that may have sabotaged us for too long. Forgiveness is a command—yes—but it’s also an invitation to the emancipation of our souls. When we forgive, we are forgiven.

WORSHIP:

I will thank the LORD because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.