READ: DEUTERONOMY 7:9; PSALMS 66:5; 136:12-16; EPHESIANS 1:5
I love that, when kids are adopted, they receive a new or expanded family history. It takes time for them to learn about their new family, but it’s so worth it.
As children adopted into God’s family, the same is true for us. The history of the Old Testament of the Bible is now our family history. The story of the Israelites is now ours. This is a huge truth to grasp, and it has a profound impact on our present. As we read the Old Testament, we see God’s acts of faithfulness to our now-family…again and again and again.
Looking back on our family history shows us that we always have a reason to worship the God who chose us and made us His people. Reflecting on what God has done in our history reminds us of who He is. He is the God who rescues us, draws us near, and calls us to be part of the good things He’s doing. When the writers of the Old Testament describe God’s character, they always go back to the steadfast, faithful love of God. And yet, the more we read these ancient stories, the more we see that the people of Israel often forgot the faithfulness of God. They forgot their history.
When we don’t remember what God has done, it’s easy to forget who God is. Thankfully, He has provided us with generations worth of examples of His faithfulness in the Old Testament—sustaining His people in famine, parting the Red Sea to deliver them from slavery, guiding them through the wilderness, bringing them to a land of plenty, saving them from their attackers, and more. God calls us to dig into these texts because He knows that, when we ignore His faithfulness in this vital part of our history, it’s easy to doubt His faithfulness in our present.
For example, in Psalm 66 the writer worships God for what He has done, first in Israel’s history and then in the writer’s own life. As Christians, we can worship God in the same way. God’s faithfulness in the past points to Jesus’s covenant to be faithful to us today and always, giving us hope to live from that promise right now. • Sarah Rexford
• Once you’ve put your trust in Jesus, the accounts in the Bible are your family history! Many people have favorite family stories. Are there any Bible stories that resonate with you?
• How could seeing God’s faithfulness throughout the generations give us confidence that He will still be faithful to us today?
And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. Galatians 3:29 (NLT)
