“And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”
Genesis 15: 4 (New King James Version)
We read in verses 1-3 , “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying , “Do not be afraid Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
Now Sarai was barren and hence Abram had no heir. We read in verse 4 the promise God gives Abram , “And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”
Now as time passes by we read in Chapter 16: 2, “So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.”
We were talking about freedom yesterday. And that is part of this morning’s meditation as well. Freedom to choose whose voice do we listen to . God had promised Abram . And Abram had the freedom to choose to listen to God’s voice and wait for His appointed time. Or Abram could decide how he thought the promise ought to work and be fulfilled and listen to voice of Sarai. Freedom to choose !
Abram made the wrong choice and we see its results even today. With regards to Ishmael, in Chapter 16: 12 , “He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”” This was the consequence of making the wrong choice . We see this being true even today.
God had bigger plans… Plans beyond what Abraham could have imagined. Isaac, the son of promise would be born to him when he was one hundred years old. We read Matthew 1:1 , “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:” Wow !!!! So high are God’s thoughts and plans for us. Wow !!
A lot of us are like Abram . We know God’s promise for our lives , but we choose to not listen to His voice . Instead we twist His promise and try and see its fulfillment with our own strength. Wait on the Lord ! In His appointed time things will come to pass by His grace and for His glory and not by our strength or our limited thinking.
Some people say , “God himself said it is not good for man to be alone , so I am going to choose whom I marry … I like this guy/girl , who cares if he/she is a believer… I like , I will marry.” Some people say “The Bible itself says what goes in doesn’t defile a man but what goes out so I shall drink and smoke as much as I like.” … Twisting scriptures to suit needs… be careful. The word of God is powerful and is life. It cannot and should not be twisted to suit our context.
We are children of the Most High. And we have been given the freedom to choose. Choose to listen to His voice and His word or choose to be yoked to the ways of the world.
Its our choice today. What have we decided ?
God Bless
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