Friday, July 20, 2007

Another Promise for Abram

"So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."

18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD." Genesis 13:12-18

As far as Abram could see, God promised that land to him and his descendants. And not just for Abram's lifetime. You see in verse fifteen that God actually uses the word forever. Forever is a very long time! In addition to having this land for forever, God was also talking about offspring and descendants. This in itself is really something to Abram as well. Abram's wife Sarai is unable to have children, so together they've grown older and without children. Yet repeatedly, God mentions that Abram's offspring will number so many that they will be like dust. That's a lot of descendants!

Shortly after this promise from God, Abram had to go rescue his nephew Lot from an evil King who had taken him captive. He was very successful, and managed to retrieve Lot and his entire household and all his possessions. The Lord then made another covenant with Abram, which we find in chapter fifteen.

"After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward."

2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."

4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:1-6

Again the discussion of offspring had come up, and once again God was promising a descendant from Abram. Despite the fact that Abram and his wife Sarai are both old, and thus far unable to have children, verse six says that Abram believed the Lord. It didn't mention even once that Abram argued about this or tossed it back and forth in his mind. Just straight up believed that God would give him an heir.

How about us? If God gave us a promise that seems a little out there would we believe it? God has given us the promise of eternal life, yet how many of us truly believe it? I am sure there are times where most of us just look around and wonder if God is real and if all of his promises are real. But then for me, I look out at my garden. The past few weeks some of my plants have fallen pray to some unpleasant little worms. I have diligently been picking them off and trying to keep up with them, but they're still managing to munch away. Well, in just the last few days, the birds have found my worms. And as I'm sitting here typing this I am watching these birds clean off my plants for me. And I am sure they're not missing a single one. If that isn't a gift from God, I don't know what is. I like to think that he did that just for me this week, because he knows how much I am enjoying this garden, and that I hate to see it become worm food. I agree with Abram, that God is righteous. For is it fair that after all this time laboring in my garden for food to feed my family, that I lose much of it to pests? A righteous God provides the birds to take care of it for me. How great is our God!

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