Week 27: July 5-11, 2026 - Reach Out!

This week’s daily readings:

July 5-11, 2026

This week’s devotional:

Reach Out!

by Sue Hersey

Scripture:

God did this [created mankind and the world we live in] so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 

— Acts 17: 27 (NIV) 

Reflection:

In the summer before I started kindergarten, I took a cross-country trip with my mother and sister to visit my grandparents out west. It took three separate trains to get us from Rhode Island to California. At one point in the journey, we needed to switch trains in Chicago—a huge station—and I remember walking down a very long line of tracks to get to our next train. We walked in a straight line for so long that my five-year-old self started getting cocky, and I felt confident taking the lead and walking way ahead of the others. After a while, I turned around to discover that my mother and sister were nowhere in sight. They must have found the track we were looking for and turned off without me. I naturally panicked, thinking we were separated for good! After a moment, my mother simply poked her head around a corner to let me know where she was and all was well, but I never forgot the fear and regret I experienced realizing I should have been following all along!

Here in Acts, chapter 17, is a sermon Paul delivers in Athens—one of my favorite sermons in all of the Bible—where he points out several of God’s great attributes. One of God’s most heart-warming emotions is his love for man whom he created in his image. I find it utterly amazing to know (as described in verse 27, above) that the creator of the universe wants nothing more than to spend time with us! As part of God’s divine purpose, you need to know that he seeks a meaningful, personal relationship with each of us, offering the kind of guidance we can rely on as we venture through this life. He seeks fellowship with us and wants us to seek him! He intentionally makes himself accessible to us, hoping we will find him and let him lead the way in our lives and beyond, into eternity. 

This idea is backed up in John 17:3, as Jesus prayed this prayer for his followers: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” He is emphasizing the importance of seeking God, getting to know him, so that we might make good choices and steer in the right direction. 

Perhaps you think God is elusive or hard to find? Our sinful nature would like us to believe that lie! This very passage tells us that we really should reach out to God since “he is not far from any one of us.” Once we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are given the Holy Spirit to teach us and transform us into people who want to follow God. We also have the gifts of prayer and Scriptures that can be studied as ways to know more about our loving God and the blessings he wants us to have. Deuteronomy 4:29 says, “you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Do everything you can to learn the truth about God, to understand his nature, and to follow him all of your days! 

Prayer:

God, you are our Creator and the Father who loves us like no other. Teach us to follow you as we walk through life. Don’t let us walk ahead and lose sight of you! Save us, Lord, from the schemes of the devil who would keep us from knowing you. Open our eyes to the truth about you. Help us to reach out to you always, praying often and reading your word to learn more about you. Lord, lead us to salvation through your Son, Jesus Christ, so that we may spend eternity in your presence. And send us your Holy Spirit to confirm our belief and inform us all along the way, making us worthy of your fellowship. We ask all this in Jesus’ name. Amen