God is ready to bless us, but we have to let Him work according to His timetable. Genesis 12:1-3
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3/ will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
Every journey begins somewhere. The story of God establishing his blessing begins here.
This is one of the most famous passages of the bible. Notice how it is about what God will do – and how little Abraham has to ‘do’ in comparison. God was going to perform great work through Abraham. I have heard it described as God promising to give Abraham the three R’s – Relatives (i.e., many descendants), Real estate, and (a) Relationship with God that would go on for ever.
This reverses the negative experience of chapters 3 through 11 of Genesis. In particular, in chapter 11 we read of the story
of the tower of Babel. Verse 4 of chapter 11 notes a high tower was to be built so that the people of the earth would make a name for themselves.
You may recall that God does not let their plans succeed – instead of sinful men & women making their name great, God intervenes and sets the stage for making His name great by blessing Abraham.
However, the blessings would come at a personal cost to Abraham – in verse 1, we read that he had to leave his family and his country. It was only once he had left his position of comfort that God was ready to do His work.
Sometimes God calls us out of our comfort zone to do His work. As you go about your week, consider what you may need to stop or start doing to let God work through you – it could be catching up with someone you haven’t spoken with in a while, making time to read the bible, or taking time away from the ‘coalface’ at work to explain your beliefs to someone you work with.
I’m not suggesting that God will bless you in the same way He blessed Abraham (although He might) – we need to be careful to interpret Old Testament promises in light of the words and work of Jesus. However, as noted later in this chapter of Genesis (and mentioned in the books of Hebrews and James), Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Head: Is there some part of my life where I am resisting God calling me to do better, because that would take me out of my comfort zone?
Heart: Is my heart soft, and ready to give hard for Jesus?
Hands: This week, how can I bless others around me with my actions and words?
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the blessing that began with Abraham and is available to us today. Please call me out of my comfort zone and use me to extend your blessing to those around me.
A song to listen to: Take my life https://open.spotify.com/track/6SsaZK015W2GlPWz13ahxW
Oliver Meehan
This Grow Daily was originally posted as part of the God With Us – Matthew series. During the School Holidays we take the opportunity to look back at the Grow Dailys over the years.
