Our Daily Bread Devotional For Today 13th September 2023 – Welcoming the Foreigner

Our Daily Bread Devotional for Today 13th September 2023, Wednesday

Our Daily Bread Devotional for Today 13 September 2023, Wednesday ODB Devotional Message written by Sheridan Voysey and Insight by Alyson Kieda

Today’s ODB Devotional Topic: Welcoming the Foreigner

Bible In One Year: Proverbs 16–18; 2 Corinthians 6

Key Verse: He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.

Today’s Scripture
Deuteronomy 10:17–20

Insight: Deuteronomy is the final book in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament known as the Torah. These books were written by Moses, except for the final section of Deuteronomy (34:5–11), which was written by an unnamed author. In Deuteronomy, Moses gives three speeches to the new generation of Israelites preparing to enter the promised land. They’re now in the plains of Moab (on the western boundary of Canaan) at the end of forty years in the wilderness. He reminds them of what God has done, reviewing the wonders He performed to liberate them from slavery and restating His laws and covenant given to them on Mount Sinai. The people are encouraged to rededicate their lives to Him. Today’s text comes from the second speech (4:44–11:32), which includes covenant requirements on the people’s part. Why should they obey? The mighty “God of gods and Lord of lords” loves them (10:17).

Our Daily Bread Devotional for Today 13th September 2023 MESSAGE

As thousands of Ukrainian women and children arrived at Berlin’s railway station fleeing war, they were met with a surprise—German families holding handmade signs offering refuge in their homes. “Can host two people!” one sign read. “Big room [available],” read another. Asked why she offered such hospitality to strangers, one woman said her mother had needed refuge while fleeing the Nazis, and she wanted to help others in such need.

In Deuteronomy, God calls the Israelites to care for those far from their homelands. Why? Because He’s the defender of the fatherless, the widow, and the foreigner (10:18), and because the Israelites knew what such vulnerability felt like: “for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (v. 19). Empathy was to motivate their care.

But there’s a flip side to this too. When the widow at Zarephath welcomed the foreigner Elijah into her home, she was the one blessed (1 Kings 17:9–24), just as Abraham was blessed by his three foreign visitors (Genesis 18:1–15). God often uses hospitality to bless the host, not just the guest.

Welcoming strangers into your home is hard, but those German families may be the real beneficiaries. As we too respond to the vulnerable with God’s empathy, we may be surprised at the gifts He gives us through them.

Reflect: Why do you think God cares so much for widows, orphans, and refugees? How could you “welcome” a vulnerable foreigner this week?

Pray: Dear God, give me a heart as big as Yours for the widow, the fatherless, and the vulnerable.

Our Daily Bread Devotional for 13 September 2023, Wednesday ODB Message . Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.

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