January 6

Genesis 13:5-15:21, Matthew 5:27-48, Psalm 6:1-10, Proverbs 1:29-33

Pray: Pray for a year of new beginnings. Today’s Old Testament story is one of new starts. Abram is taking a new territory and is gracious in allowing Lot to select the land he desires to inhabit. Pray for God’s discernment that He will direct your path in 2025 and give you insight as you read today’s scripture.

Read: As Abram takes the new ground God makes a way so His will is accomplished through Abram and Lot. Today ask the Holy Spirit to open understanding in the Old and New Testament lessons as Jesus is very practical in instructing us how to pray, how to forgive, how to hold fast to covenantal forms of relationships like marriage and love of our neighbors.

Edify: Abram exemplifies servant leadership which seeks to focus upon God’s purpose and Abram is not seeking selfish pursuits. In fact, when Abram is victorious in the battle with the enemy he does two powerful acts of selfless spiritual leadership: 1) He immediately tithes ten percent of his income to God by giving it to the priest Melchizedek in Genesis 14:20 (this is before the Law of Moses even speaks about the command to tithe) and 2) Abram refuses the generous offering from the king of Sodom believing that others might one day say, “The king of Sodom made Abram rich”. Abram wanted others to know that God had blessed Abram and is powerful enough to bless anyone who puts the Lord first.

Practice: Jesus gives strong advice in Matthew about honoring our commitments to family, spouses in marriage, and how to more effectively love our enemies saying, “If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that?” Wow, Jesus just challenged each of us to go the extra mile in learning to love our enemies and pray for those who seek to do evil against us. Perhaps today’s practice is to write down the names of those who have hurt us, who have broken our trust, who have disappointed us and ask God to bless them and bring them closer to the love of Jesus Christ so we might “be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."