February 28, 2004	Read Genesis 12: 1-2
…and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
YOU CAN BE A BLESSING We confess our faith each Sunday morning using the Apostles’ Creed and say, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”  We read God’s words in Genesis, words that summarize the result of this creation:  “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”  (Genesis 1:31, NIV)  But sin broke into the world, man rebelled against God and “the Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain.”  (Genesis 6:6)  Out of this disappointment and yet through God’s abundant mercy, God called Abram. This one man, chosen by God, was to leave everything important in his life (family, community, land) . . . and go!  Abram responded to God’s call by faith – a courageous act of trust.  The call of Abram was a mark of divine intervention destined to reshape the course of salvation history.  God’s original blessing on all mankind would be restored and fulfilled through Abram and his offspring.  The call of Abram was a call for the Israelite nation to be a blessing to all people.  Unfortunately, God often had to use other nations to discipline the Israelites because, far from being a blessing to the world, they were usually disobedient.  Yet God did not give up on humankind.  The call of Abram and God’s promises to him take on their greatest fulfillment in the fact that Jesus Christ, a descendant of Abraham, became the means of blessing to the world.  Out of God’s abundant mercy, the blessing extends to us today.  As Paul writes in Galatians 3:28-29, “for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  Christians are Abraham’s true spiritual descendants.  Take a moment and meditate on the meaning of this Good News. Lord, help us to recognize in faith our blessings so we may be a blessing to others; as we pray for Thy will to be done on earth.  LYNN SCHRIEVER

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