Wednesday, September 29, 2010
If you have a minute, take a look at Genesis 12:1-3. "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee :And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." Also look at verse seven: "And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him"
Here are the great promises that the LORD gave to Abraham. He said, "I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great: and thou shalt be a blessing, etc..."
Now take a look at verse four. "So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came." God gives the promise and Abraham immediately obeys Him without question. Wow! What great faith Abraham had! The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:8-10, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." He didn't know WHERE he was going or WHY he was going, he just went! Would to God our faith would move us like that! In America, we are so lazy about obedience to God! We want Him to explain Himself. We want to "understand" before we will obey. We should look to Abraham as an example and seek to obey God without question.
Okay so Abram hears the promise, obeys the Lord and leaves for the Promised Land. When he gets there, God once again promises to make of him (Abram) a great nation (v7). Abram builds an altar to worship the Lord, then there is a famine in the land. Abram decides to go down to Egypt to escape the famine. He's almost to Egypt and he begins to worry. The Bible says, "And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee" (Gen. 12:11-13). He JUST received the promise a few verses before and now he has already forgotten them! He's worried the Egyptian Pharaoh will kill him when God has promised him to make of him a great nation.
Take a look at 2 Peter for just a minute. Verses three and four tells us, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is THE PROMISE of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." Now look at verse nine. "The Lord is not slack concerning HIS PROMISE, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
We, as Bible-believers, know that the LORD is coming back very soon. We know that one day we will be "caught" away to meet the LORD in the air. (I Thess. 4:17) Therefore, knowing this, we should live as though this day were our last day. We should be concerned with sharing our faith with those who have not heard. Yet, we go about forgetting the promise of His coming. We get cumbered about with the cares of this life and we so quickly forget what has been promised to us.
My challenge to you today is to remember. Remember that our LORD keeps His word. Remember that He is still on the Throne. Remember His character. Remember He is longsuffering and not willing for any to perish. Remember that He has commanded you to share the Good News. Remember that He loves you. Remember that life is but a vapor. Remember.
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. James 4:14