TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Deuteronomy 8:1
Read: Deuteronomy 8:1-3
Listen: Deuteronomy 8
TODAY’S MESSAGE
When Abram leaves his hometown to follow God, he was coming fresh out of a system of idol worship centered on performing for fickle, made-up gods to meet his needs. He was new to trusting a God who makes promises and keeps his word.
Abram starts to change as he grows in faith and trust. Moving through conflict and hard times, what stands out is his willingness to keep trusting. Unlike most people, he doesn’t forget to keep trusting God when he moves from a time of drought into a time of plenty.
Abram’s future relative, Moses, will lead Abram’s descendants through a literal desert for 40 years to the land promised in Genesis 13:15. In the desert, God sustains them and leads them out. Knowing how easily he is forgotten when life gets good, God then gives a severe warning to remember him.
We tend to forget God too when the grief has lessened, the finances are increasing again, and the prodigal child has come home. He wants us to remember he is the One who led us through the desert—and he still wants our trust.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Remember times you were in the desert, and God brought you through. Maybe you are in a desert right now. With open hands and humble heart pray, “Thank you God for never leaving me, sustaining me and bringing me through. Help me not to forget you, to keep trusting and give you all the praise. Amen.”
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
