The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Genesis 15:14-16,
“I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
Here is an astonishing thing! The Lord just told Abram that he would have a son and his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. Then Moses tells us Abram believed the Lord and he credited to him as righteousness. Next the Lord tells Abram he is going to give him the land of Canaan. Abram responds to the Lord by questioning how he could know for sure he was going to get it! Where’s the faith?
What follows astonishes me. Rather than castigating Abram for his lack of faith he enters into a covenant with Abram to assure him! What do I learn from this? About this event, we read in Hebrews 6:17-18, “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.”
Even Abram, God’s man of faith, struggled with his faith at times – just like us. And what is the Lord’s response? To encourage us! He knows we are weak, he knows we struggle; he knows we are going to disappoint him. His response to his children in the midst of struggles is to reach out to them with encouragement. In this instance, in addition to his promise, he makes an oath, a covenant. Such is our God towards us! Why should God feel he needs to confirm his promises? I suspect it is due to our God who has compassion toward us that I can scarcely comprehend!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your theme of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!
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