You Can Read the Bible Guided Podcast

Imagine you’re just about to sit down, and the phone rings. Maybe it’s so sudden that you’re startled. Someone you haven’t heard from in a long time is calling. Maybe you smile, but you’re probably also a little unsure. Why are they calling? What’s going on? 

One of the recurring characteristics of God’s action as we see it unfold in many Bible stories is that God acts while we are unguarded. He catches us off guard. When we don’t expect it, He speaks. God often calls us unexpectedly.

For Jacob, it happened in a dream. God spoke the promise He had made to Jacob’s father and grandfather. His offspring will be as numerous as the dust, and all people will be blessed through them. God spoke His promise and commitment to Jacob in that nighttime vision, and He changed Jacob. Jacob responded with his own commitment.

An important part of Jacob’s commitment was his ongoing offering back to God of a tenth of what God gave to him. This tithe to God is more than a way of remembering Him from whom all blessings flow. Faithfully following through with this offering commits Jacob to a lifetime of service in that place that Jacob knew to be God’s own house. This is a way for Jacob to act out his relationship with his new Lord.

The gospel follows this pattern. God promises and commits to us. We respond in faith with our own allegiance back to Him. We act that allegiance out by returning a portion of what He has given us back to Him. As we wait for Him during Advent, it is good to ask ourselves whether He truly has our allegiance. Do we commit to a lifetime of service for His kingdom? Do we pledge and act out that commitment by offering back to Him? 

Imagine you’re just about to sit down, and the phone rings. Maybe it’s so sudden that you’re startled. Someone you haven’t heard from in a long time is calling. Maybe you smile, but you’re probably also a little unsure. Why are they calling? What’s going on? 

One of the recurring characteristics of God’s action as we see it unfold in many Bible stories is that God acts while we are unguarded. He catches us off guard. When we don’t expect it, He speaks. God often calls us unexpectedly.

For Jacob, it happened in a dream. God spoke the promise He had made to Jacob’s father and grandfather. His offspring will be as numerous as the dust, and all people will be blessed through them. God spoke His promise and commitment to Jacob in that nighttime vision, and He changed Jacob. Jacob responded with his own commitment.

An important part of Jacob’s commitment was his ongoing offering back to God of a tenth of what God gave to him. This tithe to God is more than a way of remembering Him from whom all blessings flow. Faithfully following through with this offering commits Jacob to a lifetime of service in that place that Jacob knew to be God’s own house. This is a way for Jacob to act out his relationship with his new Lord.

The gospel follows this pattern. God promises and commits to us. We respond in faith with our own allegiance back to Him. We act that allegiance out by returning a portion of what He has given us back to Him. As we wait for Him during Advent, it is good to ask ourselves whether He truly has our allegiance. Do we commit to a lifetime of service for His kingdom? Do we pledge and act out that commitment by offering back to Him? 

God promised Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars, and Abraham believed God. Abraham also delighted in his son Isaac. I get that, because I delight in my son David. Nevertheless, father Abraham faithfully stood on that mountaintop ready to sacrifice his son. Abraham stood there in faith.

I try to imagine him up there, but I can’t really. I’ve heard and seen lots of descriptions of Abraham resolute and steady, standing strong in the faith. But I can’t help but imagine him sick with fear and grief. How could he not be? However he stood, we know that somehow someway, Abraham readied himself to sacrifice his son.

We know about Abraham’s standing in the faith, and we know that Abraham’s faith almost never let him stand still. His faith was a call to action. Sacrificial action in fact is a calling card of his character, counting on God’s promises to see him through. God did see him through. God did provide that ram for the sacrifice. Isaac did survive.

God always provides. He provided the ultimate Lamb for the sacrifice when He sent His only Son. He did not spare Jesus, who died to save us. He died that we might live. Abraham’s heartache and faithfulness shows us a dim foreshadowing of God’s sacrifice of the Suffering Servant. God is always faithful to His promises.

Our calling as we await the return of the King is to bear witness to this God who willingly suffers for our sake. As we await Christmas and His second coming, let’s remember the sacrifice at the center of this great story.

God promised Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars, and Abraham believed God. Abraham also delighted in his son Isaac. I get that, because I delight in my son David. Nevertheless, father Abraham faithfully stood on that mountaintop ready to sacrifice his son. Abraham stood there in faith.

I try to imagine him up there, but I can’t really. I’ve heard and seen lots of descriptions of Abraham resolute and steady, standing strong in the faith. But I can’t help but imagine him sick with fear and grief. How could he not be? However he stood, we know that somehow someway, Abraham readied himself to sacrifice his son.

We know about Abraham’s standing in the faith, and we know that Abraham’s faith almost never let him stand still. His faith was a call to action. Sacrificial action in fact is a calling card of his character, counting on God’s promises to see him through. God did see him through. God did provide that ram for the sacrifice. Isaac did survive.

God always provides. He provided the ultimate Lamb for the sacrifice when He sent His only Son. He did not spare Jesus, who died to save us. He died that we might live. Abraham’s heartache and faithfulness shows us a dim foreshadowing of God’s sacrifice of the Suffering Servant. God is always faithful to His promises.

Our calling as we await the return of the King is to bear witness to this God who willingly suffers for our sake. As we await Christmas and His second coming, let’s remember the sacrifice at the center of this great story.

If you’ve ever been out away from city lights, then you know what a sight the nighttime sky can be. I remember the first time I saw the northern lights in far northern New York. If you’re really far from light pollution, then you can see the stars of the Milky Way galaxy strewn across the inky black canvas of space.

We know from astronomy that there are more stars out there than we can detect. We cannot count them, because we aren’t even aware of them. We know that we don’t know the number of stars in the sky.

Just like us, Abraham couldn’t count them either. Neither could he count his hoped for descendants promised by God. As an old childless man, Abraham could only cling to faith. He and Sarah were the very definition of barren, and yet they were faith-filled.

In Christ, we have been grafted into Abraham’s family. We are a part of his family tree of faith. We are able to claim our place at this star-crossed table, because of Jesus’ sacrifice.

The part I love about this ancient story of the Lord’s promise to Abraham is that we today are those stars that Abraham could not count. Thanks be to God!

If you’ve ever been out away from city lights, then you know what a sight the nighttime sky can be. I remember the first time I saw the northern lights in far northern New York. If you’re really far from light pollution, then you can see the stars of the Milky Way galaxy strewn across the inky black canvas of space.

We know from astronomy that there are more stars out there than we can detect. We cannot count them, because we aren’t even aware of them. We know that we don’t know the number of stars in the sky.

Just like us, Abraham couldn’t count them either. Neither could he count his hoped for descendants promised by God. As an old childless man, Abraham could only cling to faith. He and Sarah were the very definition of barren, and yet they were faith-filled.

In Christ, we have been grafted into Abraham’s family. We are a part of his family tree of faith. We are able to claim our place at this star-crossed table, because of Jesus’ sacrifice.

The part I love about this ancient story of the Lord’s promise to Abraham is that we today are those stars that Abraham could not count. Thanks be to God!

The story we find in Habakkuk is an old one, but it has a contemporary feel. While Habakkuk was written a long time ago, it could easily have been written today. While some details would change, the basic story would remain the same.

Bad people succeed. The proud and corrupt take power. Humble people suffer. It feels like life isn’t fair. Yet we know that God’s creation is good. The problem of course is sin and the evil that spirals out from sin, spewing struggle across all of life.

The faithful prophets of God are rightly frustrated by this injustice. Some of us like Habakkuk start marching up to the ramparts, shaking our fed up fists at God. “Life isn’t fair God! Good people don’t deserve this! Why do you let the selfish take all the power?! How can you expect us to live like this?! We need you to answer and to act!”

God answers Habakkuk, and He answers us. He will set things right. He will bring justice, rescue, and restoration. Wait for it, God says, for it will come. The restoration and renewal of all things comes through Jesus Christ. During this advent season of waiting, we wait not just for the annual celebration of His birth but also for His return. Our job while we wait is to stand up at that watchpost and call others to Him.

The Lord is in His holy temple, and the whole creation will be silent before Him.