Abraham’s story in the Bible gives us some insight into the character of God. By merely looking at how God dealt with Abraham, we can take a lot from it for our walk with Him every day. There is a lot more in store for us from God’s hand if we can look beyond our own limitations and receive every promise God already entrusted to us in Christ.
Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (ESV)
Abraham’s story gives us an example of a believer’s walk with God even when we are not perfect and make mistakes. God does not keep His promises based on our good behavior, but because of who He is. Abraham made many mistakes during his walk with God. For example, he lied to kings twice to say that Sarah was his sister instead of his wife just so that he will not be killed. However, his mistakes did not disqualify him before God, because in spite of his mistakes God still blessed him each time. Abraham was not found righteous because of what he did, but because of his faith in God (Genesis 15:6). Furthermore, in spite of his shortcomings, he continued to walk close to God—whenever God asked him to do something, Abraham did not doubt God and obeyed Him every time.
When God told Abraham that he would have a son and that God would make a great nation of him, he had a choice to make. He could doubt God’s promise to him and walk away from everything that God planned for him, or he could trust God because He is faithful. Because Abraham walked so close to God, He knew that God would keep His promise and when He says that He will give something, He will.
We should aim to a walk with God in the same way to always obey His will instead of our own desires. When God asks us to leave something we are used to and follow His will, even when we do not know where it will lead us, we should be able to do it. I think we often do not think that God will do what He said He would because we do that ourselves sometimes. We look at God the same way we look at man and place the same limitations on Him as we would put on ourselves.
Today, we are righteous because of Jesus and we stay in that right standing before God even when we make mistakes. If you think about your own life, are you there yet that you look at God for who He truly is and do you follow God’s will every time? I know I am not there yet, but it is definitely a reason for me to get up each day and become more like what God created me to be than the day before.
When we read about the promises of blessings God gave Abraham, we can read it for ourselves according to Galatians 3:8-9 “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you. So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (NIV)
God is always the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). When God said to Abraham in Genesis 18:19 “I will do for Abraham all that I have promised“, He still says today, “I will do for (your name) all that I have promised”. Every promise in the Bible is yours and God says to you today that He will do for you all He has promised you in His Word.
Take a moment and ponder on the following truth: When God promises to do or give you something, it is already yours not because of your good behavior, but because of what Jesus did for you on the cross and therefore for who you are in Him.