Thursday 7 April 2022

Today is Thursday the 7th of April, in the fifth week of Lent.
Bifrost Arts sing, ‘Wisdom and Grace’.
Teach us to number our days
That we may apply our hearts to Your ways
Teach us to number our days
with wisdom and grace.
You've been our home and our dwelling
our place in all generations.
Before the earth or the mountains were formed,
Lord, You were God.
Now the span of our lives,
It is made of sorrow and labor
As the days pass away like the grass
How soon we are gone.
O establish the work of our hands,
set Your favor upon us.
O establish the word of our hands,
May Your kingdom come!


Today’s reading is from the Book of Genesis.
Gen 17:3-9
Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.’
God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.

In this passage we are reminded that, as Christians, we are part of an ancient lineage.
The gospels have Abraham as Jesus’ ancestor and through Jesus we are all children of God.
How does that sense of belonging speak to you?
In any large family there is a sense of loyalty that encompasses the many personalities, the good, and the not so good. More is promised by God to Abraham’s descendants. An ‘everlasting covenant’, a pledge of faithfulness asking for faithfulness in return.

Listen to the passage again and notice your own response.
In a time of prayer, share your thoughts with the Lord.


You have given all to me
To You, Lord, I return it
Everything is Yours, do with it what you will
Give me only your love and your grace
That is enough for me.