In the beginning
Monday, Sept. 14
Genesis 1:1 – 2:3 Read it here Listen to it here

There’s no better place to start than the beginning, and Genesis starts with the beginning on a grand scale.
One of the first things we notice about Genesis is that the creation story is told twice, in two different ways. This first account is big, with a cosmic sweep, while the one we’ll read tomorrow feels more personal and intimate. Today’s verses recount the six-day creation followed by the first Sabbath day; tomorrow’s recount the story of Adam and Eve.
A lot of effort can be spent trying to blend the two accounts, but it’s significant that the Bible doesn’t do that. It just tells the stories and leaves each to carry its own message.
For today, that message is God’s greatness and power; his omnipotence and glory. God can create something where before there was nothing. God can, by his will, bring order into chaos.
Sometimes these are the things we need most to remember about God. God is infinitely greater, wiser and more powerful than we are.
But as we go through scripture, it’s good to remember that the Bible doesn’t shy away from our complex understanding of how we relate to God. Sometimes God feels nearby, like a parent or a friend; other times God feels distant and unapproachable.
Both of those perceptions are true to our own experience.
Another key takeaway from today’s reading is that even from the beginning, community is central to God’s design.
It will be much later in the Bible that we see the idea of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – develop, but already in 1:26-27 we read “Let us make mankind in our image,” indicating that God is in community within himself.
We then read, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Humans were also, from the very first, meant to live in community, needing each other to be truly whole.
As we continue reading through the weeks and months to come, reflect on how your perception of God changes depending on your circumstances, and how the Biblical picture of God also changes depending on the circumstances of each writer, and remember that only as we take these many different perceptions into account can we begin to see the real, living God who is behind them all.

Monday meditation

Proverbs 1:1-7
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Prayer focus
Grant us wisdom, that through reading and thinking upon the words of scripture, you may shape your mind and soul, O Lord.

-Rev. Mark Fleming