Good morning! I hope this day finds you and your family well, and I want you to know that you are in my prayers daily during this difficult time.
I invite you to take a few moments with me to reflect on today’s Upper Room Devotional below — as well as on the theology woven into “It is well with my soul.”
Today’s Scripture:
Deuteronomy 10:17-22 Common English Bible (CEB)
17 The Lord your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes. 18 He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. 19 That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, cling to him, swear by his name alone! 21 He is your praise, and he is your God—the one who performed these great and awesome acts that you witnessed with your very own eyes. 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt with a total of seventy people, but now look! The Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the nighttime sky!
Tim’s Devotional Reflection for Today
Today’s reading comes from the recitation of the law in Deuteronomy and in a passage that begins with these words: “Now in light of all that, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only this: to revere the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, by loving him, by serving the Lord your God with all your heart and being, and by keeping the Lord’s commandments and his regulations that I’m commanding you right now. It’s for your own good!” (vss. 12-13)
The book of Genesis says that human beings were “created in the image of God.” Today’s reading says that we are to treat people as God does—”God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes. He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing.”
It goes on to make the tie to what God requires: “That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt. Revere the Lord your God, serve him, cling to him, swear by his name alone!”
All these words speak to people of faith in every generation, including our own. They remind us that idolatry can creep in so that we elevate too highly certain people or things to the level of God. They remind us of how we are to treat others and to do these things is for our own good.
Thank you for sharing this early moment of your day with me, with God, and with the words and music that I hope you will carry with you throughout the coming day and night.
I am so grateful for you, for our church, and for the Love that will see us all through this very difficult time. Please stay safe and well and we’ll be together again in spirit tomorrow morning!
Grace and Peace,
Dr. Tim Bruster
Senior Pastor
Here’s more about this passage of scripture via Upper Room devotionals:
ENTERTAINING ANGELS
Today I will show hospitality to a stranger.
