A Difficult Sign

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Sunday - 9:15 AM Sunday School, 10:30 AM Worship Service

by: Denise Robinson

02/05/2021

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Our devotional series based on the book Climbing with Abraham by David Ramos continues. Last week, we looked at how God took the promise to Abraham to a next level - and how Abraham had to depend completely on God for that promise to happen. We serve a God who wants more for us than we can imagination; but we have to rely upon God rather than ourselves. 
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Week 13: Read Genesis 17:9-14 (A Difficult Sign)


"We read last week abut al the incredible things God promised to do for Abraham. Then we enter the second half of the covenantal agreement. Abraham must do something to hold up his side of the bargain: circumcision. This condition was not optional. As you could imagine, Abraham and the grown men who were a part of his group were probably not jumping for joy at the idea of taking a knife to their most precious body part. So why does God ask for this?
Circumcision was meant to be a sign. Just like the rainbow was a sign to Noah or the Passover meal a sign to the rescued Israelites. This act is a physical reminder to Abraham and his descendants that God promised He would do something, and if they want to be a part of it, they must do this one thing. 

We, too, must do one thing if we are to become a part of what God has promised, and that is believe in God's Son Jesus Christ. 

Abraham didn't have a "savior" yet. He was serving a God very few new about. Think about how ridiculous some of his men and descendants probably thought that this ritual was - You want we to do what?! However, all of this was paving the way toward events Abraham never could have conceived happening, let alone discovering he was a major pillar in their coming true.
As you grow in your faith and live out this frustrating, beautiful, confusing, adventurous thing called the Christian life, you will inevitably be faced with circumcision events. God will ask you to do things that do not make sense and that may even hurt in the short term. Our job, like Abraham, is not to try and figure out exactly how all of this is going to work and why it had to be done this way. Our role is much simpler, and yet much more difficult: to trust God. That is the person I want to become."
___________________________
Takeaway from today's lesson:  God will ask difficult things of us at times and they may not make sense to us; trust God anyways. Can you imagine Abraham telling the men who worked for him that their was this thing God was requiring of them? They probably thought Abraham was crazy. And yet, we are told that nearly all of them followed him without argument. Why? They trusted Abraham and Abraham trusted God. Is your faith in God so evident that others would trust you in faith that you were following God's path?

Prayer: God, thank you that I can believe in your promises. Thank you that, unlike Abraham, I have the proof of your commitment to your promises in Jesus. When you ask hard things of me, please give me the faith to follow through. Amen.
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Our devotional series based on the book Climbing with Abraham by David Ramos continues. Last week, we looked at how God took the promise to Abraham to a next level - and how Abraham had to depend completely on God for that promise to happen. We serve a God who wants more for us than we can imagination; but we have to rely upon God rather than ourselves. 
__________________________
Week 13: Read Genesis 17:9-14 (A Difficult Sign)


"We read last week abut al the incredible things God promised to do for Abraham. Then we enter the second half of the covenantal agreement. Abraham must do something to hold up his side of the bargain: circumcision. This condition was not optional. As you could imagine, Abraham and the grown men who were a part of his group were probably not jumping for joy at the idea of taking a knife to their most precious body part. So why does God ask for this?
Circumcision was meant to be a sign. Just like the rainbow was a sign to Noah or the Passover meal a sign to the rescued Israelites. This act is a physical reminder to Abraham and his descendants that God promised He would do something, and if they want to be a part of it, they must do this one thing. 

We, too, must do one thing if we are to become a part of what God has promised, and that is believe in God's Son Jesus Christ. 

Abraham didn't have a "savior" yet. He was serving a God very few new about. Think about how ridiculous some of his men and descendants probably thought that this ritual was - You want we to do what?! However, all of this was paving the way toward events Abraham never could have conceived happening, let alone discovering he was a major pillar in their coming true.
As you grow in your faith and live out this frustrating, beautiful, confusing, adventurous thing called the Christian life, you will inevitably be faced with circumcision events. God will ask you to do things that do not make sense and that may even hurt in the short term. Our job, like Abraham, is not to try and figure out exactly how all of this is going to work and why it had to be done this way. Our role is much simpler, and yet much more difficult: to trust God. That is the person I want to become."
___________________________
Takeaway from today's lesson:  God will ask difficult things of us at times and they may not make sense to us; trust God anyways. Can you imagine Abraham telling the men who worked for him that their was this thing God was requiring of them? They probably thought Abraham was crazy. And yet, we are told that nearly all of them followed him without argument. Why? They trusted Abraham and Abraham trusted God. Is your faith in God so evident that others would trust you in faith that you were following God's path?

Prayer: God, thank you that I can believe in your promises. Thank you that, unlike Abraham, I have the proof of your commitment to your promises in Jesus. When you ask hard things of me, please give me the faith to follow through. Amen.
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