Give yourselves a big congratulations! You've made it to a week of reading the bible everyday! That's a huge accomplishment. If you have been following the plan since we began Monday, that means today is worship as well. During worship give a little extra praise for how you've been building up your life with God this past week. Reflect on what verses or chapters have been most meaningful and share this journey with someone in your life that you think could benefit from engaging with God's word as you have. I'm proud of you!
Reading for the Day
Genesis 22-24 (This is deceiving, chapter 24 is 67 verses long)
An audio version is available below by watching the video
Video (Audio Bible)
Questions to Consider
I encourage you to write down and meditate on your own questions you form while reading first and foremost, but if you would like some direction here are some of the questions I've raised while reading.
The innocence of Isaac as he climbs the mountain with his father is heartbreaking and I'm not even a parent. I wonder how this event affected his relationship with Abraham. I wonder how long it took for him to forgive his father or understand why his father did it. Has anyone betrayed your trust that sticks in your memory? How did you forgive them? Did it feel better to let it go or is a little part of it always there?
Genesis 23 speaks of welfare to me. The underlying assumption that I've had to learn for myself is to honor someones request to want to pay for something that I intended to give as gift. For example, with homeless or low income I've learned they would much prefer to buy a Christmas gift for their child for 25 cents than pick out a free one as it implies they sacrificed something to get this. For Abraham, purchasing the land for his wife was his way of making a sacrifice for his wife as an act of love. For the owner of the land, the act was a kind gesture. But there was clearly a disconnect between these two as they keep going back at forth. What do you think of this? What are your thoughts on free vs purchased? How do you think of this in relationship to the poorest among us?
Genesis 24 is long, but cute in some ways. (once you get past the whole arranged marriage issue) Do you believe in soul mates/destiny? How have you seen that true or refuted in your own relationship?
Discuss these questions and more by joining the discussion either in the comments below or by joining the group at: https://www.chagrinfallsumc.org/group/home-group/discussion
Prayer:
Lord, let me both have the trust and capacity for forgiveness that Isaac holds in the scripture. When people hurt me, may I not give into resentment but give me the space and time to offer forgiveness. Thank you Lord for forgiving me every time I have broken your trust or hurt your feelings. You are a good God, a loving God, an awesome God and I marvel every time I think of your splendor. In your Son's grace I pray today. Amen.
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