March 13, 2021 Our Daily Bread Devotional : Topic – God’s Storybook
Read previous Our Daily Bread Devotionals here
Bible in a Year:
God blessed them. . . . God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Today’s Scripture : Genesis 1:26–31
Insight
We’re given two different accounts of creation in Genesis 1–2. The reason for two accounts is the source of much scholarly debate. One view is that having two creation stories is similar to having two birth narratives for Jesus (Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2) or to the presence of four gospel records—each provides details not presented in the others. Applying this approach to the two creation accounts, it’s not unreasonable to see Genesis 1 as an overview of the big picture of the world’s creation, with chapter 2 looping back to provide us with important details, particularly regarding the creation of the first man and woman.
Message : Wanting to enjoy the beautiful day, I headed out for a walk and soon met a new neighbor. He stopped me and introduced himself: “My name is Genesis, and I’m six and a half years old.”
“Genesis is a great name! It’s a book in the Bible,” I replied.
“What’s the Bible?” he asked.
“It’s God’s storybook about how He made the world and people and how He loves us.”
His inquisitive response made me smile: “Why did He make the world and people and cars and houses? And is my picture in His book?”
While there isn’t a literal picture of my new friend Genesis or the rest of us in the Scriptures, we’re a big part of God’s storybook. We see in Genesis 1 that “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God He created them” (v. 27). God walked with them in the garden, and then warned about giving in to the temptation to be their own god (ch. 3). Later in His book, God told about how, in love, His Son, Jesus, came to walk with us again and brought about a plan for our forgiveness and the restoration of His creation.
As we look at the Bible, we learn that our Creator wants us to know Him, talk with Him, and even ask Him our questions. He cares for us more than we can imagine.
Reflect & Pray
Where do you see yourself in God’s story? In what ways are you experiencing His fellowship?
Loving God, thank You for making me a part of Your story. May I love You and others as You love me.
Read Understanding the Bible: The Gospels at DiscoverySeries.org/Q0414.