Max Lucado: Make a Choice
Maybe your past isn’t much to brag about. Maybe you’ve seen raw evil—and now you have to make a choice. Do you rise above the past and make a difference? Or do you remain controlled by the past and make excuses?
Healthy bodies. Sharp minds. But retired dreams. Back and forth they rock in the chair of regret. Lean closely and you’ll hear them.
If only I’d been born somewhere else. . .
If only I’d been treated fairly. . .
If only I’d had more opportunities. . .if only. . .
Put down the scrapbook of your life and pick up the Bible. Read Jesus’ words in John 3:6: “Human life comes from human parents but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.”
God has not left you adrift on a sea of heredity. You have a choice in the path you take.
Choose well!
From Cast of Characters
Leviticus 12
Childbirth
1–5 12 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the People of Israel, A woman who conceives and gives birth to a boy is ritually unclean for seven days, the same as during her menstruation. On the eighth day circumcise the boy. The mother must stay home another thirty-three days for purification from her bleeding. She may not touch anything consecrated or enter the Sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete. If she gives birth to a girl, she is unclean for fourteen days, the same as during her menstruation. She must stay home for sixty-six days for purification from her bleeding.
6–7 “When the days for her purification for either a boy or a girl are complete, she will bring a yearling lamb for a Whole-Burnt-Offering and a pigeon or dove for an Absolution-Offering to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He will offer it to God and make atonement for her. She is then clean from her flow of blood.
“These are the instructions for a woman who gives birth to either a boy or a girl.
8 “If she can’t afford a lamb, she can bring two doves or two pigeons, one for the Whole-Burnt-Offering and one for the Absolution-Offering. The priest will make atonement for her and she will be clean.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, August 24, 2025
by Winn Collier
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Genesis 28:10-17
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.
13–15 Then God was right before him, saying, “I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I’m giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they’ll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I’ll stay with you, I’ll protect you wherever you go, and I’ll bring you back to this very ground. I’ll stick with you until I’ve done everything I promised you.”
16–17 Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, “God is in this place—truly. And I didn’t even know it!” He was terrified. He whispered in awe, “Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God’s House. This is the Gate of Heaven.”
Today's Insights
As we read this story in Genesis 28, it’s helpful to bear in mind Jacob’s natural character. His name means “he deceives.” He’s the brother who connived to take from his own twin, Esau, what wasn’t rightfully his (see 25:29-34; 27:1-41). Although Jacob was Abraham’s grandson, there’s no indication that he gave much thought to God up to this point. Yet God had clearly chosen him before he’d been born (25:21-23). In today’s reading, this story marks a turning point. The morning after Jacob’s dream, he set up a stone pillar on the spot as an altar (28:18) to this God he now knew personally. No matter where we encounter God—when we meet Him, our past counts for nothing. Our decision to worship Him is what matters.
God Is Everywhere
Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it. Genesis 28:16
The unassuming violinist, donning a baseball cap and T-shirt, set up near Washington, DC’s L’Enfant Plaza subway station. He moved the bow across the strings, making melodious tunes. But commuters rushed past, oblivious. He played an entire music program with only a handful of people stopping to listen. If the crowd had only known they were rushing past Joshua Bell, one of the greatest virtuosos of our generation, who had played at the Library of Congress the night before. Bell played several of the most difficult, mesmerizing violin pieces in the world, all on a 1713 Stradivarius worth roughly $3.5 million.
It’s easy to be unaware, to miss wonders right in front of us. This was Jacob’s experience as he journeyed to Harran (Genesis 28:10). He stopped and set up camp in a simple spot that seemed like any other, just a place to lay his head for the night. God appeared to him in a midnight dream, however, telling him that his numerous descendants would bless “all peoples on earth” (v. 14). He also assured Jacob that He would “watch over [him] wherever [he would] go” (v. 15). When he awoke, Jacob said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it” (v. 16).
God is everywhere, “fill[ing] heaven and earth” (Jeremiah 23:24). He’s present in the most ordinary places. Our invitation is to keep our eyes and ears open, to watch and listen for Him.
Reflect & Pray
Where have you been surprised by God’s presence? How can you live more aware of Him?
Dear God, it’s so easy to miss You. I want to see You and hear You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, August 24, 2025
The Spiritual Search
What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? —Matthew 7:9
The illustration of prayer that our Lord used here is one of a good child who is asking for something good. We talk about prayer as if God hears us regardless of what our relationship is to Him (see Matthew 5:45). Never say that it is not God’s will to give you what you ask. Don’t faint and give up, but find out the reason you have not received; increase the intensity of your search and examine the evidence. Is your relationship right with your spouse, your children, and your fellow students? Are you a “good child” in those relationships? Do you have to say to the Lord, “I have been irritable and cross, but I still want spiritual blessings”? You cannot receive and will have to do without them until you have the attitude of a “good child.”
We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God’s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12).
I am a child of God only by being born again, and as His child I am good only as I “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). For most of us, prayer simply becomes some trivial religious expression, a matter of mystical and emotional fellowship with God. We are all good at producing spiritual fog that blinds our sight. But if we will search out and examine the evidence, we will see very clearly what is wrong— a friendship, an unpaid debt, or an improper attitude. There is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then Jesus says, regarding His children, “Everyone who asks receives . . .” (Matthew 7:8).
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