The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 17:7-8,
"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
As the Lord inaugurates the covenant of circumcision with Abraham, he makes this promise to him: the whole land of Canaan will be given Abraham by God as an everlasting possession. It wasn't until some 450 years later that Abraham's offspring began to take possession of the land.
My first impulse in reading this is to recognize the eventual culmination of things in the Mideast. But, something more important for each one of us comes to mind. Jesus Christ has promised us an eternity with him in Paradise.
We read in Hebrews 11:8-16, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God… All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own… they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."
Just as Abraham's offspring inherited the land after his death, so we too have an inheritance waiting for us following our lives here.
Definitely something to get excited about!
As the Lord inaugurates the covenant of circumcision with Abraham, he makes this promise to him: the whole land of Canaan will be given Abraham by God as an everlasting possession. It wasn't until some 450 years later that Abraham's offspring began to take possession of the land.
My first impulse in reading this is to recognize the eventual culmination of things in the Mideast. But, something more important for each one of us comes to mind. Jesus Christ has promised us an eternity with him in Paradise.
We read in Hebrews 11:8-16, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God… All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own… they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."
Just as Abraham's offspring inherited the land after his death, so we too have an inheritance waiting for us following our lives here.
Definitely something to get excited about!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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