Daily Reading
Daily Thought
The Israelites presented their first fruit offerings with these words, “A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me” (Deuteronomy 26:5-10). This is the story of the Israelites, the story of God’s leading, of their faith and following. The first fruits are a celebration of God’s blessing, and the hardships, toil, and wandering are part of the story and must be remembered.
This is our story as well. Each of us are wanderers, lost until we are found by Christ. “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1Corinthians 6:9, 11).
“My father was a wandering Aramean” is our story. It is our first-fruit offering, the celebration of salvation, the reminder that we were wanderers, born of wanderers, “and the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus loved me first.
Daily Prayer
Loving Father, You are my Savior and my Deliverer, my Rock and my Fortress, my Rescuer and my Redeemer. You made a covenant, a promise, a vow with me. You are my God. I, with all who believe in You and place our lives in Yours, all of us, we are Your people. The bride of Christ.
I am created in Your image, fearfully and wonderfully made. The image is clouded by sin, but You are restoring it. God, fill me with Your Spirit so Your glory is evident, so that I resemble Your Son, so that all who see me see a reflection of You.
Amen
Daily Question
What was it like when you first met Jesus?