“Listen to Me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the Lord.” Isaiah 51:1
Dear Ones:
Signposts are a great tool for directing traffic. And so are certain people mentioned in Scripture. In a world where there is so much “knowledge,” and strange, twisted concepts of what is “true,” God has given us what is necessary in the form of signposts, to direct us in our search, apprehension, and possession of the truth. Abraham is one of those signposts, and God instructs us to look unto him. Why? Because of his credentials!!! He was “called…alone,” God blessed him, and God increased him. This was the sovereign work and will of God in dealing with this individual, in part to reveal to us how He deals with us.
Paul writes to the Ephesian believers at the beginning of his letter: “According as He (God) has chosen us in Him, BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.” (1:3) In the littleness of our thinking, we seem to think sometimes that we can understand this, but we cannot. The concept of eternity, and God being eternal, is a truth that has to be taken by faith, for our little minds can only grasp a very small portion of its meaning. Why then would God speak to those believers, and to us, of this matter? It is in order to give us a vision of His eternal greatness, wisdom, power, and love. His DESIGN was crafted well before the foundation of the world, so that our hope and expectation in His capacity and willingness to save, and keep us, would be grasped. To return to Abraham, we look at him and see that he too was chosen. The God who chose him would surely accomplish His blessed design and purpose in him. And so He will today. Did the Lord Jesus not say, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, AND ORDAINED YOU, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain?” (Jn. 15:16) The God of Abraham was the God of the disciples, and He is Our God who calls us individually,…the same, yesterday, today, and forever.
Secondly, Abraham was “blessed” of God. Paul also writes to the Ephesian church, “…who (God) hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” (Eph. 1:3) What is the blessing of God, specifically that “blessing” that God manifested in His dealings with Abraham? They began with the desire and will of God to reveal Himself to Abraham, and this in an ever-increasing, and clear manner. He identifies Himself to Abraham, tells him certain truths about Him, brings him forth to consider His greatness and mercy, and then calls him to follow Him. It is the same for us, for there is no desire that we have for God that He has not put in our hearts. There is no desire for truth and that which is right, from God’s standpoint, than that which He gives. Paul wrote to the Roman believers that there is “…none that seeks for God.” (Rom. 3:10) In declaring this, He is revealing what Jesus taught, that God draws out our hearts to Him, giving us a desire for His word, the knowledge of His person, and the intervention of His blessed life in our own.
Thirdly, God “increased” Abraham. We are apt to look only at how the Lord blessed Abraham materially, when we consider him being increased. But let us remember that God took Abraham at one point, out into the night, and asked him to look up at the multitude of stars. He then declared to Abraham, “…So shall thy seed (descendants) be.” (Gen. 15:5) He had formerly declared to Abraham, “…in thee shall ALL families of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3) And lastly, he told Abraham, concerning the promised land, “I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give this land to inherit it.” (Gen. 15:7) Abraham’s concepts of what the Lord meant by His blessing, certainly could not be grasped by his small mind. This is the reason for which Paul would write so very many years later: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.” (1 Cor. 2:9)
Dear Father, in our seeking of Thee, enable us to grasp how you deal with us, as it is in the same way that you dealt with Abraham. Give us to understand that You ARE the eternal, and gracious God, who only does wonderful things, who will never fail or forsake us, but will ALWAYS meet us individually, and together, for His glory and honor. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad