God's Covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05/10/2006

My Worship Time                                                   Focus:  God’s covenant with Abraham

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 12:1-3

            Message of the verse:  “1 Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”

           

            I want to begin with an explanation with what the word “covenant” means in the Hebrew language:  “1. to eat with, which suggests fellowship and agreement; 2. to bind or fetter, which means commitment; and 3. to allot, which suggests sharing.  When God makes a covenant, He enters into an agreement to commit Himself to give what He promises.  It is purely an act of grace.” 

           

            God is the originator of this covenant and it is He who will fulfill it.  There are some covenants in the Bible which are conditional covenants, and that would mean that the person that, (for instance), God makes the covenant with has some responsibility with the covenant.  With this covenant that God has given to Abraham in these three verses God is the One who is responsible to fulfill it.  God has fulfilled this covenant and is still fulfilling it even today.

           

            God tells Abraham to go out from His country and go to a country that He will show Him.  God tells Abraham that He will make Abraham into a great nation and will bless him and will make Abraham’s name great and Abraham will be a blessing.  God then goes on to say that He will bless those who bless Abraham and the one who curses Abraham will be cursed by God.  The last part of this covenant is that all of the families of the world will be blessed, and that has been, and is continually being fulfilled today through Jesus Christ.

           

            God told Paul years later that “My strength will be made perfect in weakness.”  As one looks at Abraham and his wife Sarah, and the fact that God gave this covenant to them when they were old and past the time when one could normally have children the were surely weak and it was all up to God to give them His strength to fulfill His covenant through them. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The plain fact of these verses is that I have been blessed through this covenant that God made with Abraham those many years ago, and if it was not for this covenant with Abraham I would not be a child of God at this time. 

The Word of God has been refreshing to my heart as I read it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord to use me to show Christ to Sharon as she stays with us for this week, and to trust the Lord to guide and direct my steps and to teach me contentment.