Take Two: Genesis 15, Proverbs 6

In Genesis 15, we see Abram questioning God about a son. This is in response to a vision he had where he was promised that God was his protector (Gen 15:1) and the One who would bless him. Abram expressed his heart to God about what he wanted most. He had accumulated possessions, but would have traded it all for a son. As it stood, there was no heir of the bloodline and all that Abram had accumulated would have been passed to a servant (his head employee) (Gen 15:2-3).

God promised Abram a son (an heir from his own body) (Gen 15:4) and many other descendents (Gen 15:5). At this point there was no evidence and the claims of God seemed a bit far-fetched...but Abram responded with faith (Gen 15:6) and he was pronounced righteous because of it.

God also promised Abram the land for a possession. Abram asked how he could know that this would be true (Gen 15:7-8). God then entered into a covenant agreement which would be equivalent to a written contract in our context today. Then...if two men made a contractual agreement, one of the ways they consumated it was by sacrificing an animal and then both parties would walk through the blood puddle. This blood covenant was binding...even more so than our legal document today which are challenged in courts as a course of business. Notice though, after Abram prepared the setting (Gen 15:9-11), only God walked through the blood (Gen 15:17-21). This does not negate the covenant; rather, it shows that God alone made the unconditional agreement. Abram received by GRACE, God's unconditional promise.

God also gave Abram a glimpse into what would happen in the short term that might look like the promise was nullified. This was so that Abram (and his descendent which he told) would know that even the upcoming Egypt captivity would not nullify the promise of God (Gen 15:12-16).

All of this would have sounded very strange to Abram. He had no context of reference for this. He had no real comparisons with which to process this promise. Yet...he believed God.

Many of the claims we have promised to us as believers are difficult for us to process. From the "rapture" to "heaven" to claims of purpose "Go and make disciples...and I will be with you always." God has promised to avenge any wrong done to us and to care for us and to provide for us in every need. Jesus spoke on this over and over again, yet...we still struggle with believing God. We cannot "logic" or "reason" our way to obedience and righteousness. We must "believe God" for us to be accounted as rigtheous. This requires faith...and we can see what one has "faith" in more by what they do, than by what they say.

You can say you love God...but we see if one loves God by how they love their neighbor. We can say we trust God, but we see if one trusts God by how they spend their money and where they spend their energy. We can say we are expecting Christ's return, but we can see if we expect His return by how we are preparing ourselves and others for it. Abram believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness.

Maybe you need to trust God right now in some way. Simply stop...confess it to Him and then read on.

Proverbs 6:16-19 is the takeaway today, specifically the last phrase in verse 19. Of all the things we see here that the Lord hates, this one struck me significantly. God hates the stirring up of strife among the brethren. What does it mean to spread strife? It would seem that to spread strife is to initiate or facilitate the expansion of disruption in the fellowship. This may be repeating a matter that need not be repeated. Thsi may be the suggestion of philosophy or ideology that do not further the cause. (I can't count the number of meetings I have been in which were extended for hours or days because someone wanted to debate a point which did not directly serve a purpose in the discussion.) We would do well to not only "not stir up strife" to to stop the "stirring up of strife" when we experience it.

Grace,