Wednesday, July 17, 2013

God’s promises, not our performance, provide an opportunity to be right with God...

In the opening book that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of Genesis, we see God pursue and make a series of promises to a man named Abram. And it is in these promises, and how we respond to these promises, that can have a powerful impact in our lives. Today, we see God continue to engage Abram in Genesis 15:1:

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great." Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir." Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

And it is in this encounter that we see God reveal another timeless truth about God and God’s promises. And that timeless truth is that God’s promises, not our performance, provide an opportunity to be right with God. Just as Abram’s confident trust in God and God’s promises resulted in Him experiencing a right relationship with God, it is our confident trust in the God and the promises of God that result in us having the opportunity to experience a right relationship with God.

It was not Abram’s performance for God by having an heir that enabled him to be right with God; it was trusting in God’s promise of an heir that resulted in him experiencing a right relationship with God.  And just as God’s promise to Abram was only dependant on God’s commitment to Abram, God’s promise to us is only dependant on God’s commitment to us through a descendant of Abram named Jesus.

So, what are you trusting in? Are you trusting in your performance for God? Or are you trusting in God’s promises?

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