Blessing Comes with Obedience
Key Point
Today’s story teaches us blessing comes with obedience. God gives us all instructions; most we can find scripture. When we follow God’s instructions, good things come to our lives as a result. That does not mean the absence of challenging and difficult situations. But a general flow of life is when we are obedient to God blessings follow.
About the Story
God did not yet change Abram’s name to Abraham. So let me share a little background about this story. Before this story, we read in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, about the creation story and first sin by Adam and Eve. Then we read about the first children who were born, the first murder, the first nation and cities and more significantly, how wicked the world became, which brings us to the story of Noah and the flood and then the tower of Babel.
Then we finally get to Abram and his family. Now Abram was married to Sarai, who would also later get a name change. Sarai was unable to have children. Abram and Sarai lived together within Abram’s father’s household; this did not mean they lived in the same house, but they lived within the same camp. They were sheep farmers, and so they had a large camp. Everyone, servants and family members lived in tents. They were in the midst of a massive move to Canaan but Terah, Abram’s Dad, ordered that they stop and settle in the Land of Haran. Haran is the land where Terah died. He lived to the ripe old age of 205! Now that you have the background let’s get into the story.
I can not think of any blessing more remarkable than the presence of God! We should respond like Abram and worship God.
Tweet
Application
I will be honest; it’s not always easy to see God’s blessing in life. Jon said that at the start, that blessing comes with obedience. Life for Abram and his family looks a lot like it did before they left his father’s family. His wife Sarai has not yet had a baby. They have had to wander quite a bit to feed their herds. I guess the question is this. Where is all this promised blessing?
The promises are not complete. It will take hundreds of years before Abram’s descendants became a nation and settle in the land of Canaan. But let’s notice in verse one, God speaks to Abram. He got the message and was obedient. As a result, a blessing comes. God physically shows up, and Abram is in God’s presence! God then affirms his promise to Abram. I can not think of any blessing more remarkable than the presence of God! We should respond like Abram and worship God if we saw him!
The principle of obedience and blessing has followed every Christian. We obediently commit our lives to follow God, and he blesses us with the Holy Spirit who lives in us. God’s presence is with us!
