Monday 26 June 2023

Today is Monday the 26th of June, in the 12th week of Ordinary time.

The Porter’s Gate sing, ‘Benedictus’. As you listen, notice how God might be guiding you today…

God in all your tender compassion
The dawn from on high it will break on us
Shining on those living in shadow
Guiding our feet into the way of peace
You will guide our feet
You will guide our feet
You will guide our feet into peace
God in all your tender compassion
The dawn from on high it will break on us
Shining on those living in shadow
Guiding our feet into the way of peace
You will guide our feet
You will guide our feet
You will guide our feet into peace

Today’s reading is from the Book of Genesis.

Genesis 12:1-9

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages towards the Negeb.

The Old Testament bears huge significance for the whole salvation narrative. Abram, the great father of the Old Testament, of faith in God, here seventy-five and with no children to his name, is chosen by God to build a great nation. He is told by God, “Go”. “So Abram went,” we read. His is a dramatic story of faith, testing, obedience, and also deeply flawed humanity. God chose him. God blessed him.


What motivated Abram to do exactly as God said, do you think?


“Abram journeyed on by stages.” What strikes you about the stages of Abram’s journey? The stages of any journey? The setting out, the highs and lows, the monotony, the plodding, the arrival. It’s perhaps a bit like the journey of faith… is this something you recognize in your own journey?

As you hear the passage again, consider the promises of God to Abram. Remember that Abram’s descendants will include Jesus Himself.

As this prayer time draws to a close, speak to God about what has stirred in you. You might want to ask for greater trust, or clearer direction, or a greater awareness of your blessings, on your own journey of faith.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.