Day 11

Now the Lord said to Abram,

‘Go from your country and your kindred

and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

I will make of you a great nation,

and I will bless you and make your name great,

so that you will be a blessing.’

Genesis 12:1-2

Be a Blessing.

Maybe it’s not obvious what this passage has to do with Christmas, but actually it’s the start of a long story that leads to the birth of Jesus, and which finds its fulfilment there.  Abram (later known as Abraham) became the progenitor of the whole people of Israel, the “great nation” God refers to here.  So it was only because Abram obeyed God’s call to set out into the unknown that all this could happen, leading eventually to the birth of Jesus nearly two millennia later!  Our choices – especially our choice to follow God’s call – can have consequences far beyond our own lifetime.  But notice also that God’s promise to Abram isn’t just to bless him and his family, but that he will in turn be a blessing – and not just to his descendants but to “all the families of the earth”.  That promise was truly fulfilled through Jesus, God’s greatest gift to the world. He comes to us through the faithfulness and obedience not only of Abram but of many generations of God’s people.  Now it falls to us in Jesus’ church to pass it on to our neighbours and to the next generation.

Alister