January 25

Genesis 50:1 – Exodus 2:10, Matthew 16:13 – 17:9, Psalm 21, Proverbs 5:1-6



PRAY: Lord, thank You for Your Word. Would You please open my eyes to see Your faithfulness? Inspire me to be a person of faith just like our heroes in the Bible. Lord, they weren’t perfect – I am not either – but I can choose today to take steps in Your direction. Lord, I am determined to celebrate You today and watch You work!

READ: It’s interesting how both Jacob and later, Joseph, would request that their bones not remain in Egypt upon their deaths. Although Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel) died in Egypt, he believed God’s promise to one day bring his descendants back to Canaan. Although Joseph was appointed to serve in Pharaoh’s palace during the years of plenty and famine, he too would arrange for his bones to go with the Hebrews when their time in Egypt was complete. And then we segue into Exodus and pick up with the birth of Moses—the one who would lead Israel to freedom and the one to whom God would entrust His Law.

EDIFY: While in Egypt, Israel’s descendant went from 70 to a mighty nation! In the New Testament reading, Jesus takes three of His disciples up a high mountain and His “appearance was transformed so that His face shone like the sun.” Who would appear with Him, but Moses and Elijah? Think about it: Moses—Rescuer, Lawgiver; Elijah—prophet, and one in whose spirit John the Baptist would prepare the way for the Lord’s Christ. With Peter, may we declare of our Lord: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” Faith is all over our reading today, from Jacob and Joseph believing God’s promise to Moses’ parents hiding their baby in a basket among Nile River reeds to Peter’s declaration of faith. God is faithful. And we must live by faith.

PRACTICE: Again, none of us is perfect. But we must keep our focus upon Christ’s mission in the world. Just moments after Peter’s declaration of faith—Jesus being the Messiah—the Lord had to rebuke Peter for opposing His purpose to suffer, die, and rise again. “Jesus turned to Peter and said, ‘Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s’” (Matthew 16:23). We all have struggles and setbacks. Nevertheless, will you make sure your overarching focus today is to align with Christ’s work in the world?