He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised. – Deuteronomy 26:19

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 19, 2018): Deuteronomy 26

Once upon a time, there was a people. The people were insignificant, except that they really believed that God had chosen them. This belief was encoded in the stories that they told each other around the campfires at night. When they developed the ability to write, these facts were written down. Stories that were once known only as they were passed down from generation to generation were written onto scrolls and, in the case of one scroll which is most likely the book of Deuteronomy, the scroll was hidden away behind a wall in the Temple, only to be found much later in the history of this people.

There is very little that is new in this story. Many cultures have stories that maintain that they are the chosen people of their gods. But maybe one of the most significant differences, in this case, is that there was a purpose behind the decision of God to favor this people. And that purpose was told in the stories and written down onto scrolls.

“I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3).

It is the grand difference. I will bless you, and in that way, you will bless all of the nations. My blessing will pass through you to the world. I will set you apart and make you holy so that all of the world will know that I am God.

Here, Moses reiterates this purpose. God will bring you fame and honor, just as he promised to Abraham so that you will be in a position to bless the world. The problem is that that has not always been true of the Jewish people. It has not been true of the Christian people, chosen to bless the world alongside our Jewish brothers and sisters. We have been selfish, sometimes reacting to the world around us as spoiled and entitled children, missing one of the most basic ideas of our faith; that we are blessed so that we can bless. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).

We are called to be a blessing and have a positive influence on the world. All of us who claim to be descendants of Abraham, either biologically or by faith, share in the task that God has set before us. We are blessed to be a blessing.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 27