Genesis 12:1-4 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country
and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. (2)
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name
great, so that you will be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you,
and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed." (4) So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went
with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from
Haran.
These verses contain truly incredible promises that reflect the sovereignty
and grace of God. We need to remember that Abram, like Noah was not chosen by
God because they were godly, righteous men. Abram’s family were idol
worshippers, until God revealed Himself to Abram and radically change Abram’s
life. That change was but the beginning of God’s workings with Abram. In these
verses Abram is given the command by God to leave his homeland, his extended
family and travel to a land that God will show him. Faith is immediately
required of Abram, and Sarai, for they are being called to embark on a journey
without knowing the destination. Further faith is required when God promises to
Abram that he will have many descendants, that from Abram a great nation will
arise. We see the measure of faith required to believe in the this promise of
God when we read in Genesis 11:30 that Sarai had no children and was not able to
have children, she was barren. God reveals Himself to Abram and then calls Abram
to faith, to trust God to do what sounds to the human ear as utterly
impossible.
That same God has revealed Himself to us through His Son, His Spirit and
His Word, He has radically changed and transformed our lives and that day of our
salvation was but the beginning of God’s workings with us. God may not make the
same promises to us as He did to Abram, but God does call us to demonstrate the
same faith and trust that He required of Abram. Abram’s life from this moment
forward displayed times of great faith and trust and at other times doubt and
self-reliance. The rewards, or the results and consequences are revealed and
thus they serve to encourage us all the more to faith and trust in God. Let us
live in reliance upon God in this new week, demonstrating that our faith and
trust lies in Him to work in us and to continue to do the impossible.
Lord God, the God who has revealed Himself to man, how we thank and
adore You today for radically changing our lives through the Lord Jesus Christ.
We do not yet fully appreciate what it means to be counted as a child of God. We
thank You to for all the wonderful promises You made to us on that day of our
salvation, promises we know that will come to pass. We pray that as You call us
to have a greater and deeper faith, trust and reliance upon You, that You would
by Your Spirit, enable us to respond in the right manner, for our good and for
Your greater glory. Amen
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