February
18, 2013
Opening Hymns:
361 Rock of Ages http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh361.sht
Scripture Reading
Genesis 15:1-18
Genesis 15:1-18
After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will
inherit[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
3 And Abram said, “You
have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your
own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky
and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So
shall your offspring[d] be.”
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he
credited it to him as righteousness.
7 He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land
to take possession of it.”
8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
9 So the Lord said to
him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a
dove and a young pigeon.”
10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two
and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut
in half. 11 Then
birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep
sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your
descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be
enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as
slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your
ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your
descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet
reached its full measure.”
17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a
smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give
this land, from the Wadi[e] of Egypt to the great river.”
Message
This is a story about faith in God.
Here we see Abram making a covenant with God, and having full faith that God
will give him offspring as numerous as the stars. That would be quite a hard
promise to believe because Abram is so old. Abram believes God and makes a
covenant with God.
However, if we keep reading on the
very next chapter shows doubt. Sarai was still unable to bear children and did
not keep the faith. She had an idea to solve this problem on her own, and ends
up giving Abram her servant Hagar to Abram so Hagar can bear him a son.
In this story we will learn that
fixing things on our own is not always the best solution… Patience and faith in
God would have given more comfort to Sarai in the future. She becomes jealous
of Hagar’s ability to bear Abram a son, and when she is able to have a son of
her own Sarai mistreats her.
At this point Sarai may have wished
that she had waited for the promise God had made to come true. Things like this
can happen in our lives too. Sometimes we try to rush our lives instead of
waiting for the right moment. Sometimes we can even sneak our own plan in, and
mix it with the plan God has for us. In moments of great decision or change it
is good to take time to pray and reflect on where our path is leading. Ask
yourself, ‘is this something that God would want, or could I be trying to tweak
His plan?’
Even when we add our own “tweaks”
God still loves us. He still fulfilled his covenant with Sarai and Abram. He
will still fulfill His covenant with us. As long as we believe in Jesus, we are
saved and we are forgiven.
Time of Prayer
Dear Lord, Thank you for forgiving us and for giving your Son to show us how to live a life that is pleasing to you. Forgive us when we try to tweak your plan. Help us trust you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Closing Hymn
372 How Can We Sinners Know http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh372.sht
May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." Amen.
Go in peace, serve the Lord
Thanks be to God
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