Grow. Pray. Study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection's Daily Guide - Monday, 24 February 2014 " From "starving Aramean" to generous givers" & Tuesday, 25 February 2014 "They kept bringing him spontaneous gifts"
Grow. Pray. Study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection's Daily Guide - Monday, 24 February 2014 " From "starving Aramean" to generous givers"
Daily Scripture: Genesis 12:1 Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
Deuteronomy 26:1 It shall be, when you have come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, possess it, and dwell in it, 2 that you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you. You shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. 3 You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, “I profess today to Yahweh your God, that I have come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us.” 4 The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God. 5 You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, “My father[a] was a Syrian ready to perish. He went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number. There he became a great, mighty, and populous nation. 6 The Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. 7 Then we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers. Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, with great terror, with signs, and with wonders; 9 and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me.” You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God.
Footnotes:
a. Deuteronomy 26:5 or, forefather
Reflection Questions:
Abram had no son when God called him, yet God said that his descendants would bless "all the families of earth." When Israel was a settled nation, they structured their giving to help them remember that God was the ultimate source of all they had. They brought the first part of each crop to God, and recited words that acknowledged their humble human ancestry, and God as the creator and deliverer who had made their well-being possible.
Deuteronomy 26:2 said to give God "some of the early produce of the fertile ground that you have harvested from the land the Lord your God is giving you." In other words, don't pay everything else, and then give if there is any left over. In what ways in your life can you make it a point to give God, not your leftovers, but your "first fruits"?
How did you react inwardly when you read that line about "My father was a starving Aramean"? Were you brought up to be proud of your distinguished family lineage, or was your ancestry more humble or anonymous? From what spiritual perils did God seek to guard Israel in having them glorify God, rather than their human ancestors?
Today's Prayer:
God, thank you for the blessings I receive, for the gifts and talents I have been given, for the fruit I see produced in my life and in our world. Teach me to always remember to point to you as the source of all good fruit in my life. Amen.
Insight from Dave MaGee
Dave Magee is the Director of Student Ministries at Resurrection.
Read and Reflect:
(Head)
In Genesis 12 we see God tells Abram (Abraham) to go “ to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. ”
Ultimately the ancestral line of Abraham will follow God’s call, live out God’s promise and arrive in the promised land, Israel. Modern Israel is not a large piece of land compared to many countries. It is around 8000 square miles, about the size of the state of Massachusetts; some 260 miles at its longest and 60 miles at its widest. To many peoples or empires Israel might not have seemed like the most desirable piece of land.
But the people who were settling into Israel were no ordinary group of people. The Aramean referred to in Deuteronomy 26:5 is thought to be Jacob, who would be called Israel. The descendants of Jacob (who would become the 12 tribes of Israel) suffered oppression in Egypt until God delivered them, and God ultimately led them to a promised land that they could call their own. So the land of Israel was more than just a plot of land—it was a promise delivered, a place where the people of God could live out their lives and their faith.
Thus, we see in Deuteronomy 26 that when the people enter the land they are to take the first fruits of the first harvest from the land, put them in a basket and deliver the basket to the priest, and the priest will place those first fruits at the Lord’s altar.
A piece of land can be more than just a piece of land when God has a plan for that land and it is dedicated to the Lord. Sometimes human nature is to pray to God for something, and then when (or if) God answers, to give thanks for that answer to our prayer. But here we see that scripture says to recognize that everything we have ultimately comes from God and is a gift from God. May we each be challenged to offer God thanksgiving, not just when prayers are answered or projects are completed, but first and always, recognizing that it is God who has invited us into the journey from the first.
Prayer and Meditation
(Heart)
God, we see your scripture tells us that you have blessed us and now we are called to “bring the first fruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me. Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him.” Deut. 26:10
We thank you for the blessings we receive, for the gifts and talents each of us has been given, for the fruit we see produced in our lives and in our world.
May we each bow down before you as today’s verse says and point to you as the source of all Godly fruit in our lives. May we give thanks and be challenged to give, not merely from our leftovers or abundance. Guide us to first be givers to you, your people and your world. Amen.
Be, Do & Go
(Hands)
For many it may be common to pray before our daily meals, to offer thanks first for what we are to receive, and that is a great thing! Today be challenged to pray and give thanks to God first before some of your other daily routines where praying first might not be so commo —perhaps before you interact with a family member or friend, before you go into a meeting at work or as you begin to do a routine task on behalf of your family.
Recognize that every moment of the day is a gift from God filled with potential to produce Godly fruit. Strive to take several “ordinary” moments today and dedicate them to the Lord. Don’t worry about getting the exact words of the prayer right. Rather dedicate the action or interaction to God, and perhaps you will recognize Godly fruit where you might have missed it, or share Godly fruit where you might have held onto it.
For Discussion:
Use this section to help prompt discussion with your spouse, children, small group, etc.
1. Why do you think God called on the Israelites to return their first fruits as an offering to God?
2. Why does it sometimes seem easier to say thank you to God after an event rather than before?
3. Where are some places in your daily life that you could seek to offer prayer first as you undertake those daily routines?
4. Are there places in your life where you can be challenged to not give God your leftovers, but to give God your first fruits?
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Grow. Pray. Study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection's Daily Guide - Tuesday, 25 February 2014 "They kept bringing him spontaneous gifts"
Daily Scripture: Exodus 36:1 “Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom Yahweh has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that Yahweh has commanded.”
2 Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart Yahweh had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it: 3 and they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, with which to make it. They brought yet to him freewill offerings every morning. 4 All the wise men, who performed all the work of the sanctuary, each came from his work which they did. 5 They spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded to make.”
6 Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make anything else for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing. 7 For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.
Reflection Questions:
In the passage just before today's reading, Moses introduced Bezalel and Oholiab to Israel as the gifted, skilled leaders who would execute (and teach others how to execute) the plans for the Tabernacle (cf. Exodus 35:30-35). But the workers met an unexpected problem. They came to Moses, reporting, "The people are contributing way too much material for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do." What an amazing outpouring of generosity!
Moses told the Israelites, "Whoever freely wants to give should bring the Lord's gift offerings" (Exodus 35:5). Exodus 36:3 described the people's contributions as "spontaneous" gifts. What needs to happen in your heart, in every human heart, in order for us to give "freely" and "spontaneously"? Have you had the experience of giving freely, and finding joy in the process?
Bezalel and Oholiab, Exodus said, not only had wonderful skills of their own, but also had "the ability to teach others" (Exodus 35:34). In your work or other areas of interest, what are you best at doing? What ways have you found (or could you find) to share your ability with others who could benefit from learning from you?
Today's Prayer:
God, I pray to have a heart willing to hear your call, willing to see all you have given me, and willing to do wholeheartedly whatever you set before me. Amen.
Insight from Julie Peters
Julie Peters is the Associate Director of Student Ministries at The Church of the Resurrection.
Read and Reflect:
(Head)In this passage from Exodus, there are many rich lessons. We begin our reading with Bezalel & Oholiab and the skilled laborers who were called to build the sanctuary (Exodus 36:1-2). If we look into the preceding chapter, we gain more insight into why Bezalel and Oholiab were in charge of the skilled laborers. Moses told the Israelites that the Lord had chosen Bezalel and filled him with the Spirit of God, wisdom and all kinds of skills. He also said that Oholiab and Bezalel had both been given not only many artistic skills, but also the ability to teach others (Exodus 35: 30-34). Each of the many skilled workers had gifts which they gave whole-heartedly to the work set before them by God.
In verses 3-5, the Israelite community is engaged in the process of building the sanctuary. The skilled workers receive the freewill offerings that were brought by the people; every morning more freewill offerings were brought. In Exodus 35:20-29, we learn that Moses assembled the Israelite community to hear what God was asking of them. They then withdrew, and as they were willing and their hearts were moved, they began to bring freewill offerings. They brought whatever they had, whether it was olive oil, gold or fine linens they had woven, each one giving back the gifts that God had given them, spontaneously, morning after morning. Each one who was willing gave whole-heartedly to the work God set before them.
This whole-hearted giving eventually overwhelmed the skilled laborers and they asked Moses to put a stop to it, as they had collected all that was needed for the work at hand. And Moses followed up by making clear that the giving should stop. Two things seem to warrant consideration here. First, the observation that the workers had so much integrity they discouraged the people from bringing more, when the provision was already there. They were led by God’s spirit and were above reproach in their stewardship of what the people brought. And second, they gave whole-heartedly to what has captured their hearts. These same Israelites whole-heartedly had given their freewill offerings to form a golden calf earlier in Exodus. Now they were bringing their freewill offerings to their Lord, who had captured their hearts and attention. Each one who was willing gave whole-heartedly to the work set before them by God.
Prayer and Meditation
(Heart)
God, I pray to have a heart willing to hear your call, willing to see all you have given me, and willing to do wholeheartedly whatever you set before me.
Fill me with your Spirit, lead me by your Spirit, teach me to follow faithfully.
Thank you for all you have given. Help me remember that all I have belongs to you. Help me to listen and respond faithfully to you.
As I ponder what I have been wholehearted about in my life, I recall the golden calves, things that have captured my heart and taken my gaze off of you. I am sorry. Forgive me. Turn my heart back to you. Capture my heart again. May I not be captured by things that are perishing, but moved more towards you and the priorities you call me to have.
I pray to follow you faithfully and wholeheartedly day by day.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Be, Do & Go
(Hands)
Take time today to think and pray about what you have to give and how God can use it as a freewill offering to others.
Do three simple things today that meet the needs of those around you. It can be anything from paying for the drink of the person behind you in line at Starbucks to taking a minute from your busy day to call a sick or lonely friend to doing the dishes when it isn’t your turn, or maybe even sharing a meal with a homeless person.
After you give freely to others today, remember to say a prayer thanking God for inviting you into God’s work in the world.
For Discussion:
Use this section to help prompt discussion with your spouse, children, small group, etc.
1. Have you ever wholeheartedly given time, money or energy to building a “golden calf”? Explain.
2. Think of a time when you were willing and listened and followed God’s promptings in your life. Share.
3. In what ways can you be more open to using your gifts for God’s work?
4. As you hear leaders in the church talk about the future, what excites you the most about what God might do? How will you be a part of this?
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