Genesis

My one & only New Year's Resolution was to read through the Bible like I would any other book. Meaning that I start at the beginning and read my way through each day. Some days I have an hour to read, other days only 10 minutes. (I'm not very good at the Daily Plans to read through the Bible in a year thing.) I just want to get through it all in a relatively short amount of time. But the way it's not like any other book is that it is living & active! I want Holy Spirit to give me new revelations of each story within the overarching story.


So I just finished Genesis & was reminded of what I read in another book, Living Water by Brother Yun, that talked about why God so often refers to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When people make an oath, they swear by someone higher than them. God can't do that. So this is His way of swearing by Himself. Referring to Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is  a reminder of His unconditional faithfulness to keep His covenant & promises. So when He reminds His people of this, it's like He's saying, "I haven't broken a promise yet, so you can trust Me to keep this next one, too."


I also think that reading through the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is an encouragement to any Christian. After all, those three men don't exactly have the best reputation all the time. Sure, Abraham is remembered for his faith when he was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac. But there were also times when he lied about Sarah being his sister so that he wouldn't be killed. Isaac did the same thing with his wife Rebekah. And Jacob is known as the Deceiver & for wrestling with God. Isn't that encouraging that none of those examples of lack of faith caused God to give up and find someone else to establish a covenant with? He was committed forever.


I have a guess that God knew what He was getting into before He even made the covenant, and He was willing to anyway. Why? Well, I think one of the reasons was that God wanted a family. He's a very relational Being. He's the Creator of love. He is love. I think He wanted a family to have relationship with and to manifest His love with. He doesn't need us, but He wants us! It makes me think of this song: I Knew what I was Getting Into


God knew what He was getting into when He called Abraham. He knew what He was getting into when He called you, too! He's not shocked by your weaknesses, your lack of trust, or your failures. He understands your brokenness. He knows that Satan is fighting against your efforts to walk with God. He just wants your repentant heart. He wants you to humbly come to Him and let Him help you. (More on this in Exodus) He wants you to be in a faithful, committed relationship with Him. If He can stick with Abraham's family through all the generations, surely He can stick with you. Rejoice in that truth! I hope that truth makes you fall more in love with God today. And each time that you hear or read about God being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I hope that you are reminded of God's faithfulness to both His family and to YOU specifically.