July 1, 2026:

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. And I will make you in to a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse….’” (Genesis 12.1-3A)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

As I was driving to work this morning, I took the usual back street when I see the busy intersection turn lane is full. There isn’t much to see during the pass through until you get back to the main road. It is in that moment I find rest and pause. There is a small waterway, maybe some would call it a brook, that flows from one of the many underground springs in the area that make up the Bear Grass Waterway. There are a few trees and lots of green grass. When it has been recently mowed there is a sense of flow to it like rolling hills. They are not much more than undulations. But if you block out the parking lot and the parkway, the cars, trucks and buses by focusing just on the pastoral scene, you can see the meadow David might have been singing about. His experience as a shepherd and being shepherded himself by both his earthly and heavenly fathers, comes alive in what is called Psalm 23: The Shepherd’s Psalm. It speaks of the blessing of having no wants. He has no wants because all his needs are met. How are they met? The answer is simple: he trusts God to provide without asking, begging, cajoling and raising expectation of “returning the favor.” We might consider this is the same promise and experience which Abram had with his fathers. God promised that Abram would be blessed and in such a way, because of Abram’s life testimony, that Abram would be a blessing to others. It could be said of David as well (except for Uriah.) As king of Israel, he settled the Tabernacle as a temple to the Lord in Jerusalem. He united the tribes and two disparate kingdoms into one nation and one people. Under David’s rule and God’s reign, Israel entered into a golden age. It was a legacy passed on to Solomon, his son.

There is also connections between Psalm 23 and Genesis 12.3a, which further enhance the understanding of God’s blessing and our being blessed to be a blessing to others. God declared to Abram, “I will bless those who bless you; additionally, I will curse those who curse you.” God’s watchful care was as complete as His sovereignty over all creation. Too often, God’s love is confused with such unconditional love as the world understands it today. That love is with no accountability and full entitlement. That is not real love. It isn’t even apathy, the true opposite of love, which is the absence of true feeling one way or another. Love that has no accountability and enables full entitlement is hate. It does not seek the good of the person nor the glory of God. There is nothing mutually beneficial in it at all. The world’s unconditional love is exactly that. It only creates the culture and climate of “I will allow you to do your thing and either love it or hate it; and you will allow me the same. There is no other agreement between us apart from ‘you exist and so do I.’” Wow. There is no true love there. I could argue there is no self-love there either.

No, as I reflected yesterday on God’s rightful conditional love, the blessing is what becomes the evidence of God’s love. Equally now, we hear the antithesis which is the curse. Walk in the way of the Lord and you will find blessing even in hard times. That thinking is included in most marriage vows: sickness and in health; in times of fiscal duress or success; in times of trial and tribulation or in times of peace and prosperity. As long as “love is your aim; God’s love,” then there is always good news, a silver lining and a bright hope. Sometimes we do not even know how it happens that the blessing comes into and over our lives. It does and it does not because of our efforts and works except to “trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding.” Let us understand this: God has promised to bless us and make us a blessing for others.

Still, there is in God’s love an accountability. Sometimes, God’s love is shown in discipline for our disobedience. We have all had to face the music of our bad decisions. Do not confusion this with hard times experienced because of the disobedience and faithlessness of others. We must endure certain things and keep the faith, believing and trusting in God in all things and at all times. This does mean that there is a judgment by God as a component of His love. If God didn’t love us, then He would simply let us destroy ourselves and the whole human race and all of creation. This is not the way of God as we saw in the story of Noah and the Flood. So, there is a curse where God removes the blessing bestowed on everyone because of His great love. Walk with God and the blessing will come. Walk away from God and the blessing will go. That is what God promised to Abram. I would dare say that as Abram and all believers as blessed to be a blessing, then our curse can certainly bring a curse (the removal of a blessing, at least the appearance of such) on others. Walk faithfully; tread lightly.

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.