OUR DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY
Our Daily Bread for today is here. Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11).
The word of God is food to the spirit man. “Eat and digest” the word of the Lord for today and let its unchanging power nuture your faith and help in your daily walk to Christ.
The Topic of Our Daily Bread For 4th June 2025 is “’Tis a Fearful Thing”
Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21-22, John 14
Memory Verse: Genesis 23:2
Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
Today’s Scripture & Insight: Genesis 23:1-4, 17-20
When we meet Sarah in Genesis 11, she’s introduced as Sarai, the wife of Abram, who “was childless because she was not able to conceive” (v. 30). They lived in Ur of the Chaldeans on the Euphrates River, which archaeologists have discovered was a thriving trade city with a vast library. So, when her father-in-law, Terah, uprooted his family (including his son Abram and wife and Terah’s grandson Lot) and headed for Canaan, it may have been difficult to leave family and the amenities of a flourishing city. From Ur, they settled in Haran, where Terah died. There God called Abram to continue to Canaan, where He’d make Abram “into a great nation” (12:2). Many mishaps, missteps, and years later, elderly Abram and Sarai (now renamed Abraham and Sarah, 17:5, 15) became the joyful parents of Isaac, the fulfilment of God’s promise (21:1-7). Sarah died at the age of 127, and Abraham “[wept] over her” (23:2). We too will face grief, but God will lovingly provide the hope and comfort we need.
By: Alyson Kieda
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ODB MESSAGE FOR TODAY
“Tis a fearful thing / to love what death can touch.” That line starts a poem written more than a thousand years ago by the Jewish poet Judah Halevi, translated in the twentieth century. The poet clarifies what’s behind the fear: “to love . . . / And oh, to lose.”
In Genesis, an outpouring of emotion occurred when Abraham lost Sarah in death. “Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her” (23:2). The chapter unfolds the beautiful, grief-heavy story of the loss of one of Scripture’s most memorable characters: Sarah, the faithful wife of Abraham, that old woman who laughed at the news she’d be a mother (18:11-12) but cried in pain as Isaac made his way into this world.
We make much of that crisp, humanity-rich verse in John’s gospel: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). The Messiah’s tears at the tomb of Lazarus emphasised Jesus’ loss. To love is indeed a fearful thing. The poet Halevi calls it “a thing for fools”, yet he follows by also naming it “a holy thing”, which it is, especially for those whose faith is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
We love and lose everything from spouses to children to parents to friends to pets, and weeping with “painful joy” is oh so human. Yet for the believer in Jesus, our weeping only lasts for the proverbial night. As David wrote, “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Our Father hasn’t left us bereft of hope.
By: John Blase
Reflect & Pray
What has affected your ability to love? Who is the last person you wept over and why?
Dear Father, please grant me the courage to love.
Our Daily Bread 2025 Devotional is written by Con Campbell and published by Our Daily Bread Ministries. Read more
Visit the ODB official website here: www.odb.org
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