7.9.13

The Charge Of God's Promise.



"Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. 
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."(Genesis 17 : 4-8)

A promise is usually not actionable especially when it is gratuitous. God's promise to Abraham has first a duty :

"This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
Gen 17:11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Gen 17:12 He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house, or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,
Gen 17:13 both he that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money, shall be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
Gen 17:14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

and then, implied terms and conditions :

". .for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him."(Genesis 18:19)

Our charge is to keep the way of the Lord. How do we accomplish this? We are to do righteousness and justice.

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, {think about} do these things." (Phil 4:8) 

As we do this, then the Lord might bring to us what he has promised! Isn't that neat!? The promise is not auto-granted. To access the promise you have to walk worthy of it, and even afterwards; it is the prerogative of God whether or not to bring the promise.

The gain though is that doing righteousness and justice have value in themselves. These are wellness and satisfaction.

Isaiah's " Tell the righteous that it shall be well with him" resounds sweetly deep inside me. It's not a scam. Walking with God you get rewarded anyhow and either way. Thank you Jesus.

If you are still going your own way, why don't you turn around today. What have you to lose? None. But, you have much to gain. Give it over to Jesus today.


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