July 9, 2026:

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.” (Genesis 12.9)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

We all have Negevs in our lives. Even today, the Negev makes up over half of modern Israel. In the days of Abraham, its territory was over half of the Promised Land. It is mentioned many times in the history and prophecy of the Old Testament. It is a desert, semi-arid land, producing opportunities for limited farming and the grazing of livestock. It is also filled with minerals of value. The greatest significance, however, is that it represents “challenge.” Notice again, as I have maintained this theme from the introduction of Abram into the story of how Israel came to be, Abram did not settle in the Negev (at least, not initially.) In today’s verse, the Lord leads Abram from the encampment set up between Bethel and Ai to the Negev. I wonder what Abram must have thought as he continued to put his trust in God (not yet named) and found himself with all he possessed on the edge of the desert. They had come nearly 800 miles from the Ur of the Chaldees to the edge of the Negev south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Imagine standing on the northern edge of Canaan with its valleys, plains, lakes and rivers. From that vantage point, the prospect of a “promising” life look good. It is the place where hopes and dreams come alive easily. Of course, anyone who would be standing there would desire it for themselves. They would consider the challenges of mastering the land as well as defending from everyone else who would see it and desire it for themselves as well. Then the horizon changed.

From lush and prosperous lands which are a blessing to be a blessing, to the fringe of the vast desert that was and is the Negev. In Hebrew, “blessing” means an opportunity to be a part of the giving of what is good for others. Too often, “blessing” is interpreted as to what we receive, merited or unmerited. For many, the blessing is conditional and contractual as if they are owed it. It isn’t about being a part of something bigger or greater. It is about having more in my survival mentality to prove I am the fittest. I find it difficult to subscribe to that myself, but we all are there at one time or another. I am not saying this was the mentality of Abram. However, God knows the heart, mind and spirit of humankind and that it will come to us all. Showing Abram the Negev was a way of preparing him for all circumstances and consequences. I doubt that Abram was even thinking about it because Abram was not yet tested. Things seemed to always be good for Abram to this point. He was successful and prosperous and, as we will soon learn, married to the most beautiful woman in the world. What else could he ask for? The Negev was an unknown opportunity. It looked like what it was on the surface- desert, scarcity and something to be avoided. However, the presentation of the Negev could be a harkening back to the story of Adam and Eve.

They lived in a land of visible and tangible prosperity. They did not have to work for anything. Everything was provided including meaning and purpose which was to simply harvest, cultivate and enjoy with thanksgiving. In Eden, even work was pleasurable and fulfilling. There was no mention of pain, suffering, sorrow, despair or endings. That is until the Serpent spoke such things into being by putting names to them Adam and Eve had never heard. For their disobedience and lack of trust in God, they were sent out from the “good and very good” into the greater portion of the world for which they were truly created. Their work was not to be limited to Eden. Eden was the training ground for living out their meaning and purpose and make of the world a place of fruitfulness and prosperity. Never thought of it that way? Then perhaps you missed the same in the gospel message Jesus declared about being the light of the world and sharing it everywhere. Regardless, Adam and Eve had to “toil in the soil” and bring out of the land itself what was there. They were to duplicate, with greater effort, what God had done to bring about order out of chaos and a place of plenty and opportunity. As Abram faced the Negev, it was not a punishment but a reality check. Live out the promise of meaning and purpose and even the desert would bloom and prosper. Still, Abram was not a settling kind of person. Circumstances would lead him still further before he would learn to truly trust in God alone for all he had and was yet to receive.

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.