TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2-3
Listen: Genesis 12
TODAY’S MESSAGE
The Christmas season can be a time for gratitude and thanksgiving. We gather with loved ones, exchange gifts, take time off, give and receive Christmas cards—all while celebrating the birth of our Savior. Yet the season can magnify our loneliness, loss or disruption. It can be fertile ground for comparison, competition, discontentment and ingratitude.
In today’s passage, God makes a promise to Abraham. A promise to bless him and make him into a great nation. Fast-forward in the story and we find that God later delivered on this promise. But it’s not just a blessing to Abraham but through Abraham. God blessed Abraham so that Abraham could be a blessing.
As we approach the Christmas season, we will have plenty of opportunity for discontentment. Maybe it is tension at the family dinner table, a tight budget that keeps gift buying or decorating in check or such a busy schedule it’s hard not to wish Christmas to be over already.
Whatever this season brings, allow God’s Spirit to draw you to gratitude. Not so you can marvel at your blessing—but to motivate you to live a life of blessing.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Take some extra time in your journal today when you list three items for which you are thankful. Select one relational event, one element of the day and a specific food item. Pray to your Father and ask him to help you be a blessing to your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and strangers this Christmas. Then commit to being that blessing.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
