November 1, Genesis 15
And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. - Genesis 15:6
I want to live a life of faith. I want to believe and trust God so fully that I am delighted to surrender my will to his will, knowing it will be best for me. I'm encouraged and inspired to grow in my own faith when I read in the Bible about men and women of great faith. No example of faith is more encouraging that Abraham. I want to notice all the details I can about his life and his interaction with God.
There are things both strange and wonderful about what's related in Genesis 15. The vision (which may include all that is described in the chapter) and the solemn ceremony of the animals cut in half and laid out so that symbols of God's presence could pass between them are strange. But the assurance of repeated promises and confirmed covenant are wonderful.
It's one particular part of Abram's response to all this that I want to focus on today. We love the text verse: "And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness." We know it from the New Testament quotations. We want it to describe our own faith. But it's another part of Abram's response I want you to think with me about today. I suspect it's something you will understand from personal experience.
What was Abram's reply to God's comforting reassurance about protecting and rewarding him? The man who left his homeland and his father's household and family to answer God's call asked a question! He said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" He asked God about something else he had promised that did not seem to be coming true. Where were all these descendants going to come from if he had no children? What was God going to do about that? Was his servant going to be his heir instead of his own son?
God was patient and gracious to Abram when he asked the pointed question. He assured him, "Your very own son shall be your heir." He took him outside and showed him the stars. He encouraged Abram to count them if he could. Then he told him, "So shall your your offspring be." Abram accepted God's answer, trusted it was true, and God counted that acceptance as righteousness.
Next God renewed his covenant promise to give Abram the land to possess. Abram had a question about that, too. He asked something you may have wondered about before: "How? How am I to know that I shall possess it?" God responded by telling Abraham to get five animals, cut them in half and lay the halves out opposite one another on the ground. Abraham did it, and then drove away the birds that came to feed on the carcasses. God came to Abram between the split carcasses and assured him of what would happen in the future, revealing specific details about Abram's descendants for hundreds of years to come. We know from the Bible story that it all came to pass, just as God told Abram in that mysterious state of deep sleep and dreadful darkness.
What's the takeaway for us, trying to follow in Abram's footsteps of faith? Don't be afraid or ashamed to have questions. Pay attention to all God has revealed to you in his word. Believe God's promises. It's ok to have questions. It doesn't mean you don't believe when you wonder about what, when and how. But after we ask all our questions and listen to what God has told us, we must exercise our faith, trusting God and not our own understanding. Abram did that when he could not imagine how what God said could come true. He took God at his word and did what God told him to do. Let's be like him.
Copyright © 2021 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—November 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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