January 16 – Genesis 12-15

Today’s reading comes from Genesis 12-15. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

We are again back in Genesis. When we were last in Genesis we were observing the creation story. We experienced God’s hand in establishing the world. We see an explanation for the fossil record that is in the ground. We understand why the world has many vast and different languages. Today we begin another creation story, but this one doesn’t involve plants, animals, mountains, or any other physical aspects of the world. Creation today comes in the form of salvation.

We experience the call of Abram, better known as Abraham, to be the father of God’s people. God makes a covenant with Abram that if he follows Him all peoples on earth will be blessed through him … Gen. 12:3. We see Abram accept God’s covenant and follow Him completely.

One of the amazing things about the relationship between God and Abram is that God protects the covenant. When Abram lies about Sarai his wife and tells those in Egypt that she is his sister, God protects the covenant … Gen 13. In a similar way Abram honors the covenant himself.

After saving Lot from his capturer’s Melchizedek, king and priest of Salem, offers blessings to Abram. Abram responds … “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me.” Genesis 14:22-24. God protected the covenant with Abram, and Abram honored the covenant by depending on God and God alone.

There is a powerful lesson to learn in this encounter. God has given us the promise of eternal life in His presence. Do we do all we can to protect that covenant? In the way we live, the words we use, the care we take of our bodies, and the love we show others? Do we depend on God for His blessings or do we try to take care of ourselves, to do it on our own? Do we acknowledge that it is God who blesses through the gifts and talents he has given us? If you want a rich full life, then living this way, with the give and take, understanding it is God who leads and guides, you will find it.