Today we read Genesis 16. Sarai seeks alternative means for fulfilling God’s promise. When God provides a son to Hagar, discord and strife arise because of jealousy and pride. How often our own households and marriages are torn asunder when we devise ways and means that God has not commanded! Consider how willing our Lord was to submit Himself to everything the Father willed, even when that meant suffering at the hands of evil men and dying in their place. He has seen your suffering, and has taken it upon Himself. By His dying and His rising, He makes sure the God who sees all is now graciously disposed toward you. • Dear Lord, though You see all, You promise now to see us only in Jesus. Tenderly work among us by Your means of grace, exercising Your fatherly care. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Various Authors. The Lutheran Study Bible (p. 662). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Today we read Genesis 15. God credits righteousness to Abram simply on the basis of His covenant promise and faith. (Genesis 15:6 is an extremely important Bible verse because it teaches that Abram was saved by *faith* in God’s promise, not by *doing* things to please God). To the promise, God adds the visible sign of the slaughtered animals, the fire pot, and the torch by which God shows Abram that He is committed. Today, rest in God’s promises given to you in Jesus and delivered to you in His Word and Sacraments. They are enough, because Jesus was enough. • Dear Father, rescue us from our enemies by Your promise made sure in Your Son, who delivers our inheritance to us in the New Testament of His blood. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Various Authors. The Lutheran Study Bible (p. 660). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Today we read Genesis 14. The Lord fulfills His promise to bless Abram, doing so through the ministry of Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High, who presents him with a feast. The Lord’s blessings come through His gifts, His means, His ministers. The Lord confirmed this ultimately by sending His Son, who gave the eternal sacrifice, once for all, of His body and His blood on the cross. He continues to bless us, even setting a feast before us as He gives His body and His blood in bread and wine. • Lord, bless us daily to live in Your pleasure, which is ours for the sake of Jesus, our great High Priest. Amen.

Various Authors. The Lutheran Study Bible (pp. 656-657). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Today we read Genesis 13. Conflict arises between Abram’s and Lot’s herdsmen. Abram—for the sake of peace within the clan—decides they need to part and relinquishes to Lot the right of first choice. What an example Abram sets for true, godly living, an example Christ Himself shows. Though Christ was God, He counted humanity better than Himself, taking the form of a servant that we might be treated like kings and queens! By His self-sacrificing, humble service in our place, we are reconciled with God. • Lord God, teach us, by Abram’s example, how to love as we have been loved and how to serve as we have been served. Amen.

Various Authors. The Lutheran Study Bible (p. 653). (Function). Kindle Edition.