April 26, 2026:

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

(Romans 12.1)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

People often ask about their purpose in life. They look for meaning in vocational and avocational expressions of identity. While it is true that we can “find ourselves” in the work we do, to be defined by our work in terms of how the world sees it, is a poor definition. We only need to go back to the original word of God to gain focus on who and what we are. That original word speaks of how we came into being. That original word was spoken out of God’s spirit for creation itself. Yes, God spoke His word by His Holy Spirit and the work of creation commenced. He called order to rise up out of chaos. He called light out of darkness. He called land out of the water. He called out vegetation out of the land. He called specificity of heavenly lights out of the light itself giving a unique form to the light to make it separate from the background of light. He called creatures out of the water, out of the air and out of the land. And then, God created out of His own image- humanity. Let’s stop and consider this for a moment: In the beginning, God…created. In the very beginning, we are not told the time when or the place where God created. We are also not told the why God created. What we are told is the what and the how God created. And in the creation of the what with the how, we are specifically told the specificity and definition of each creation: order, structure, visibility, demarcation, function, purpose and life itself.

The priests, the chief storytellers of Israel and indeed the religious spiritual leadership of every culture and people, recount the story of creation in order to establish the continuity of relationship between God and His people (or, for the sake of argument, a god and his people). Such creation stories bear some similarity to one another. Much has been made in a study and survey of those stories across cultures in some hope to determine which came first. It is not as simple as trying to answer that age-old question “Which came first- the chicken or the egg.” Although, in a decisive reading of Genesis 1 (and we could say the same for Genesis 2), the storyteller is purposeful and decisive that what came first was WHO. That WHO is one God. What sets that ONE GOD from all else? For us within the Judeo-Christian faith, the definition of meaning and purpose for creation, all of creation, is clear. In Genesis 1 (more specifically that story of creation which is completed in Genesis 2.2-3), that meaning and purpose culminates in “worship.” God calls such “worship” His sabbath rest. Notice the uniqueness of the seventh day. In truth, notice the uniqueness of the creation week. We may think, and who am I to argue, that God created each “group” of things and then assigned them a day: first through sixth. He even established the rhythm of how that created day was to be seen: there was night and there was day. Have you stopped to wonder why? It should be obvious to us if we are intentionally and carefully reading Genesis 1: God called out… order, light, land, life, Himself. It started with a darkness and become the light. It is the rhythm and pattern which God established as our meaning and purpose. We are to follow His creative rhythm by calling out of darkness (chaos, hate, misunderstanding, lies, selfishness, self-centeredness, confusion, grief, sorrow, pain, suffering, hungering and thirsting, death) light. John helps us to see it in his “creation” story in John, chapter 1. Jesus is the light of life and the light of all people. John reflects upon the prophecy of Isaiah, “the people who dwelt in darkness have seen a great light.” That light was intended to be the light to the world (we say it this way sometimes “the light of the world.“) That light is: order, love, understanding, truth, service, servanthood, direction, hope, joy, healing, fulfillment (of body, mind, heart and soul) and most importantly- life. And this isn’t just any life. It is true life and living, alive from the center of being alive which is unequivocally God’s presence.

But let me get back to “Which came first… the creation or the day?” When we come to the “end” of the the story (Genesis 2.2-3), the seventh day already seems to have existed. God does no creating on the seventh day. It says specifically, “…and on the seventh day God rested.” Did simply cease? No, it is clear from the presentation of the presence of God in that seventh day that “He blessed it and made it holy.” He didn’t create it, just as He didn’t create the other days. He instead, gave each day its assigned definition. The definition leads us into a greater understanding of the purpose, meaning and intentionality of God. Creation is an act of worship, a product of selfless and servant-oriented worship which brings blessing, sanctification and holiness. Creation is all about life. Paul speaks to this when he wrote to the Christian community, and all who would hear his teaching on the matter in any and all venues, “Present yourselves, therefore, as LIVING sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” It is the cycle of life calling out of the darkness (which is sin) light (which is the life of all who answer the call.) Who are we are Christ-followers but those who, by preaching the gospel of Christ and Him crucified and resurrected, call others into their new lives wholly pleasing and acceptable before God for the purpose of worshipping/serving God by worshipping with and serving God’s people that they may become “the people of God.”

(Tomorrow, I will reflect on what the Spirit revealed to me in the impact of that seventh day for explaining how the creation story in Genesis two culminates in a similar sense of worship and service. See you then and there.)

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.