"...because you have obeyed my voice"

"...and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice" Genesis 22:18

What precedes this verse is a thoroughly moving account of how God tests Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his son. I'm not going to get into the detail of that now. Suffice it to say that God never wants Abraham to actually sacrifice his son; instead this is a picture of how only God himself will provide the lamb, that is Jesus, who takes away our sins.

What I really want to emphasise here is that the nations of the earth shall be blessed through Abraham's obedience. I think these days we downplay obedience. I see this outworked in the school where I work: obedience just isn't the done thing. But from this passage it seems that obedience unlocks further blessing.

Now I use the term further because it is clear from elsewhere in scripture that God blesses because of nothing we do to earn it. In Genesis 1:28 we read that the first thing God does after he creates man is to bless them. God's character is the bless us because he loves us!

But I believe that there is a key to unlocking further blessing and that is when God tells us to do something then we should do it. Abraham obeys God and so all nations will be blessed! Genesis 12 shows us that God has already blessed Abraham, so this is further blessing.

In practice, we need to recognise where God has spoken to us in our lives and do what he says. Has he told you to help someone in need? Help them. Has he told you to move to a new area? Move there, trusting in him. Has he told you to pray for and lay hands on the sick? Then pray for them. There are many situations I could list - [insert yours here].

Obey and be blessed!

Sow, sow and sow some more!

I've been thinking over a Bible verse for a few weeks, on & off. It's a promise, one that I believe, and has practical application. It reads:

"And he (that is, God) will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous." Isaiah 30:23

God gives rain to water our seed when we sow it, and the produce will be of good quality and quantity. Where do we acquire this seed?

"He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." 2 Corinthians 9:10

God gives us the seed as well. What an amazing God! He gives us the seed and he waters it so it will grow and multiply.

Now this applies to more than agriculture. What else can we sow? We can sow a smile to our neighbour, a handshake, a friendly conversation, a prayer for the needy; but we can also meet that need by sowing our time and finances. We can sow a scripture or word of encouragement to build people up; we can prayer for healing by the laying on of hands.

So what should our response be? Sow, sow and sow some more - for he will multiply it! Now is the time to sow and to see a harvest of righteousness, finance, health and souls for the Lord!