July 22, 2026:

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.’ So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron. There he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.” (Genesis 13.17-18)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

What’s done is done! Yesterday it was “A deal is a deal” or “What God says He will do, He will do.” Today, it is what’s done is done. Closure. It is what we all look for in life. We all desire a sense of closure. It doesn’t mean the end. It does mean completion. There is a certain amount of joy and relief when we experience completion. I think far too many people lead open-ended lives never closing anything. They complain of exhaustion, being overwhelmed and even if they closed their eyes, their “eyes” are wide open still searching the horizon for closure. We are a weary people. Jesus said, “Come, all you who are weary and heavy ladened, I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11.28) It really can’t be that easy, can it? But crowds of people, like flocks of sheep seeking a Psalm 23 shepherd, came to Jesus for that very reason. They desired closure in their lives. Yes, some wanted the end of the Roman tyranny like countless other ruthless nations who they allowed to rule over them. Yes, they allowed it. They allowed it just as their forefathers allowed it and their fathers before them and before them. How did they allow it? They did so by trusting in the ways of the world’s governance and immediate expressions of prosperity instead of “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3.5) There is a reason why it was called “wisdom literature”! Those who were wise enough to take it to heart found their peace and prosperity in the realm of God, His Kingdom on earth as it was most certainly in Heaven. If it was the truth, then it could never be a lofty goal because it came down from Heaven to be the truth of life on earth. Those who were not wise enough to take it to heart, however, pursued their own interests and understanding and interpretations. They became vulnerable by making themselves vulnerable to the wrath of God (the negative consequences which were natural to the Kingdom of God on earth and in Heaven… just ask Lucifer) and to the wiles of sinful people. 2 Chronicles 7.14 speaks to the reality of the problem and the solution, “IF My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” In the consecration of the Temple begun by David and finished by Solomon, Solomon brings the truth to bear on the nation of Israel. Equally, it would be a truth borne before all nations around Israel who had set their designs on conquest of that “Promised Land,” that “Land of Promise” blessed by God for His people who are called by His name. What Solomon hoped and prayed for was “closure” to the days when the nation would compromise its faith in God with the desires of the world. It was intended to be a day of redefining and refining the will of the people to pursue the will of God. There could have been an “AMEN” at its conclusion which is the same as declaring “It is done; what’s done is done!”

So it was on the day when Lot left with all his herds, flocks and tents to take up residence in the Jordan River Valley settling near Sodom, that God confirmed “What’s done is done.” On the one hand, “what was done” was Lot departed and the conflicts between the two family groups was diminished. Lot left. Lot did not take the land he had chosen. Rather Lot was a squatter with wealth. It provided him some leverage among the rulers of the land but certainly not protection as a continued reading would reveal. On the other hand, “what was done” was God’s promise and affirmation that all which God had revealed to Abram was his and under his command. It was not enough that God affirmed it, but that Abram confirmed it by surveying the land and then establishing his point of reference at Hebron. There he built an altar for the express purpose of that confirmation with sacrifice and a pledge. It is not much different than what happened at Golgotha. God confirmed at the cross His promise and affirmation of a love so great He would sacrifice His only begotten Son for those who believed to receive the Kingdom of God on earth as it was in Heaven. (Strange how we have not acted as if we are in Heaven!) But it isn’t enough for God to make such a declaration and affirmation. In that regard, it is conditional to experience God’s unconditional love. The condition is, as it was on the day when Solomon led the nation in consecrating the Temple, that the people receive the promise and act accordingly to confirm it with their own lives. Where are we building our altars of sacrifice? Where are we establishing our point of reference as a testimony to all who pass by that we “trust in the Lord with all our heart [soul and mind] and lean not on our own understanding“? God has opened the world to us and has shown us the depth and breadth of it. It is a world filled with promise discovered not by our human industry but by our spiritual alliance and allegiance to God the Father as if we are indeed the image and representatives of Jesus Christ His Son. What a heavy and heady responsibility to call ourselves “followers of Christ, His disciples, God’s people who are called by God’s name.” But, if we do not hold firm to our commitment and turn to go the other way… well, there is a story that encapsulates that consequence. It would even be true today even for those who “say” they are believers but do not walk “the way, the truth and the life.” Beware! Let those with eyes to see and ears to hear; see, honor and obey.

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.