Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.’ So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, ‘When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, September 29, 2026
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
The story ends as it begins. With a reminder of God’s original promise to Abraham and Sarah to show up and always be present for God’s beloved people. In Genesis, that was limited to a single family, but even from the outset, God was clear that it transcended that. Abraham was just the vanguard, and through their covenantal relationship, every single human being would be blessed by God, as we are (and always were). Joseph dies in a far-away country that is not his true home. Sometimes we feel we, too, are languishing in a world that feels alien, broken, even hopeless. But Joseph had utter conviction that God would show up again and take him home—even after he was nothing but bones.
I think we are too quick to write off this present age and our broken world as something to escape. In fact, the Bible never really says we’re going to be whisked away to some heaven that is better than the world. Instead, God brings heaven into our midst. It’s here all around us. The resurrection is not confined to some future instant. It’s happening now. It’s a process more than a moment. When we die, we can still know that God will surely come to us and bring us fully into the beautiful Reality God has already created and redeemed. May our lives proclaim this powerful truth.
Where do I see God’s reign breaking into the world in the here and now?
