1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.2 “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. 3 I will bless those who bless you,     and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth     will be blessed through you.”4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.REFLECTIONSWritten by Gus CameronIt’s interesting to think about why God made this promise to Abram. Strangely no reason is given. God is just gracious and chooses to show is grace to Abram.Abram’s response is also just as interesting. He hears God promise and he does what God tells him to do. Surely the right response to God!And sitting here in Australia today, isn’t it wonderful to think about how God kept this promise. Abram never got to see it, but in Christ Jesus it all became true. And we enjoy God’s blessing as people from all across the earth who have been blessed through Abram, through his descendant Jesus.Give thanks for our gracious God, who blesses us, not because we deserve it, but because he loves to show grace. And give thanks for how we can see this promise of blessing fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Pray that God would fill us with wonder and thankfulness.