Mirror, Mirror

This week, our passage in Hebrews retells the story of Abraham and Melchizedek from Genesis 14. Abraham experienced a great military victory, and his response was generous worship. Not only did he offer praise to the Lord Most High, but he gave Him a tenth of everything through Melchizedek, the priest of the Lord Most High. His response to God’s goodness was surrender. Abraham knew the source of every good gift – even life itself – was the Lord Most High.

It’s easy today, in our culture and context, to believe that we are entitled to all we have because we worked for it! Because we aren’t often forced to desperately pray for our daily bread, we tend to credit ourselves for the blessings in our lives – without even realizing it.

If we are to take God at His word, every good gift has come from Him. The very breath in our lungs, the twinkling stars that hang in the sky on a dark night, the way our muscles work together to enable us to move and work, the way the synapses in our brains fire back and forth to allow us to think, the love instilled within us for one another…He has made all of this possible! He has lavished us with blessing! He is good, and He loves us.

Abraham knew this, and it compelled Him to worship generously. He recognized God’s generosity toward Him, and in return, from an overflow of His heart, He mirrored the God He knew.

Jesus Christ gave Himself up for us. He loves extravagantly and sacrificially. And He calls us to mirror Him.

The question this week is twofold: 1. Do I know the Jesus Christ of Scripture, who gives generously and loves sacrificially? And 2. What does it look like for me to more closely mirror Him?

We cannot mirror that which we do not know. Or more aptly, we cannot mirror One whom we do not know.

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” – Galatians 2:20

Father, You are the source of everything good in this world and in our lives. The sunshine on a spring day, the blossoming trees, the colorful sunsets…the very breath in our lungs…you have blessed us so generously, Lord. Please give us hearts of gratitude. As we live our lives, please help us to mirror You – to reflect Your image. We want to be generous with our time, our talents, and our treasure…because it is all Yours. Help us to live accordingly, knowing You withhold no good thing from us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.