The fundamentality of goodness should shape our vision, our emotions, and our actions.

This devotional explores the first petition of the Lord's Prayer, “Hallowed be your name.” When we make this request we are asking for God's grace to enable us to rightly honor the Lord for who he is, what has done, and what he is doing in and through us. We ask that what we think, do, and say will be informed by his words and works and directed towards his glory.

Among the sterling characters of the Old Testament few surpass Joseph for integrity and faith—which shine all the more given the suffering he was called to endure. From one perspective, his life could be summed up as, “how everything went wrong.” But Joseph would insist that “everything went right.” Is Joseph a special case and have a special faith?  Or does he testify to a promise that applies to the people of Christ as well?

Genesis 11:1-9

Professor Chris Gordon gives a devotion from Genesis 12:1-9.

References to the garments of Joseph provide a unifying pattern to the story of Joseph and ultimately Joseph is a type of Christ.

As Jacob expires from this life, his faith testifies to the blessed comfort of dying in the Lord. 

Abraham ensures that his son will be in the land but not of the land.

In Genesis 15 the LORD came to Abraham to make to him three promises: to be his shield, to give him a Seed, and to be his Savior and Abraham received the substance of the covenant of grace, Christ, through faith alone and Christ’s righteousness was credited to him for righteousness.

Because he trusts God's promise for his descendants, Abraham claims a piece of property in the promised land. 

God uses his judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah to train Abraham in righteousness and justice. Abraham sees both God’s righteous judgment and his righteous mercy.

The account of Jacob's sacrifice in Genesis 46:1-7 reveals the extent of God's gracious transformation of Jacob as he trusts God to fulfill the promises even as he leaves the promised land of Canaan. 

God’s promise of the gospel to Abraham is rooted in creation but ultimately unfolds in the glories of the gospel fulfilled by Christ.

The stories of the patriarchs are not always positive. In fact, much of what we find is the complete opposite. In this episode of Jacob's life, we come face to face with people, like us, who don't seek the grace they need, and don't deserve the grace they get.

Jacob's wrestling encounter with God sheds light on two realities: first, the path of pastoring; and, second, and more importantly, the path that Jesus walked before us.  

Amid the dysfunctionality of the covenant family, the Lord preserves a seed of faith within Jacob’s art of deception to make him the an heir of the promise.  

The Lord revealed to Joseph that the Lord was going to use him in a marvelous way, that he would be a savior of sorts, but between the time he innocently went looking for his brothers in Dothan and the fulfillment of the dream there was much humiliation and danger to be endured as the Lord prepared him for that great act of deliverance.

In the appeals of Judah, we see a picture of person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Genesis 38 vividly portrays the power of sin among Jacob's descendants as Judah falls deep and deeper into sin. Tamar, by contrast, demonstrates her faith in God's promises to Abraham's seed through desperately clinging to her position as matriarch of Judah's heir, and she sees God's blessing through the unusual birth of her twin sons.