Friday, September 30 – Genesis 12:3

“And I will bless those who bless you,

And the one who curses you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

In many hero sagas, there is a moment where a character shifts from an ordinary person to become a hero, purposing their life to save others. In our own lives, there are moments we can point back to that changed everything—what career we would choose or what ambitions we would pursue. As we’ve studied the book of Acts, we have seen how God brought His people together in unity to worship Him. He has broken down barriers and divisions left and right to bind His people together for His glory. In today’s passage, we are reminded that this unity is more than a nice feature of our faith; it’s something God has promised and has been working toward from the very beginning. This unity is a piece of His grand narrative—that we may have peace with Him and with one another through our shared blessing of Christ.

Unfortunately, many times it is easier to spot division than unity in our lives. We desire to be right more than unified when we hit conflict. We stop listening to one another in a pursuit of stating our opinions. Ultimately, when we don’t recognize the bond of peace available through Christ, we are the ones who miss out. The unity God has given us is rich and full, but it is not easy. It is deep and healing. It is a part of a long legacy God built through Abraham, beginning in this passage. Arguments or moments of division may seem like no big deal when we think about them as one moment, but when we remember that our unity in Christ is something God planned from the beginning, it seems so foolish to favor our pride over the legacy of faith made available through the united body of Christ.

• What would it look like to take unity seriously in our church?
• How have you experienced unity in Christ with others?
• Pray and thank God for His plan of unity and blessing throughout the ages.