Genesis 13:14-17 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated
from him, "Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward
and southward and eastward and westward, (15) for all the land that you see I
will give to you and to your offspring forever. (16) I will make your
offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the
earth, your offspring also can be counted. (17) Arise, walk through the length
and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you."
Abram and Lot have gone their separate ways, Lot has selfishly and
foolishly chosen the land to the east that is lush and fertile, but also plagued
with sinfulness. Abram remains in the dry, semi-arid land of Canaan. Upon Lot’s
departure God continues to expand the promise He made to Abram. While Lot may
have chosen the land to the east, that land will never belong to Lot, Lot and
his family will have to flee from there in the time to come. But in the case of
Abram, the land upon which he now stands, and the land that he can see all
around him, will belong to him and to his descendants. Abram will not receive
this land by means of human agreement, Abram will not have to pay vast sums of
money to take ownership of this land. This land will be given to him by God! Not
only will this land be given to him by God, but God will populate this land, it
will be a land filled with people, people descendant from Abram. How incredible
this must have sounded to Abram, who was at this point a nomad in the land, he
did not own one acre of land, nor did he have a single child. He is landless and
childless, but now God promises to him that the land upon which he stands will
be his and it will be filled with his descendants.
God has made an equally incredible promise to us through the Lord Jesus
Christ. We have been brought into a family, kingdom, inheritance and eternity
that was simply impossible for us to ever attain to. One far greater and more
glorious that we could have ever imagined. We have not had to pay for it, or
earn it by the sweat of our own brow, it has been given to us by God, given in
all its fullness. We enter into God’s Kingdom as full children of God, as
rightful heirs. God is our Father, heaven is our home, and we have access to it
for all eternity. This promise of God to Abram, serves to paint a picture and
point us to the work that Christ would do and the wonderful promise that it
would bring us, the promise of a new land, a new kingdom, a great inheritance
and eternal blessing.
Our loving heavenly Father, thank You for this wonderful promise that
we have in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to be constantly mindful
and thankful of this promise and to prepare ourselves for the day when it shall
come to its ultimate fulfilment. May we live now as citizens of heaven and
children of God. Amen.
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