Focus

As you quiet yourself for this brief time, be willing to be open to God in whatever way that may take place.

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Read

Genesis 15:1-18 (NRSV)

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Then he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates…

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Reflect

There is a lot to this reading, but there is something that catches my attention every time I read it. I enjoy science and I like to read about new discoveries in space or in the tiny realm of individual atoms. I guess I like to follow some things down rabbit holes, to see what they might mean in scientific or historical terms. So, when I read this passage, I almost always reflect on the number of stars in the sky.

How many could Abraham have observed? That’s hard to tell. Maybe several thousand. But maybe God was talking about the number of stars in the sky, not just the ones Abraham could see. Any idea how many of those there are?

Write a 1 and then add 24 zeroes behind that. That is the approximate number of stars visible from earth. Some of that light has been traveling toward us for billions of years!

According to one source, about 107 trillion people have ever been born on earth. That’s a 1 with eleven zeroes after it. We have a long way to go to before the descendants of Abraham number the amount of stars in the sky.

It is an amazing promise from a God who has created more than we will ever discover. The sheer magnitude of creation makes my head spin, and reminds me just how awe-inspiring God really is.

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Pray

Lord God, help us to be mindful of just how great you are. You have given us so many ways to see how overwhelming you are. Keep us from focusing only on our own tiny circles of creation, and remind us that you made it all. You are indescribable. Amen.

Go with God.