Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect.
Wow! What a privilege it is my Friends, to be called upon by the Most High God Jehovah, especially at ninety- nine years old! You know the majority of us won’t even live to our allotted three score and ten, much less ninety- nine. But, for whatever reason, the Lord’s eye fell on Abram. And what did he require of him? ‘Walk before me and be thou perfect.’ The Lord was certainly asking a lot of poor ole Abram. At 99, who knows if he could still put one foot in front the other, (smile) and be perfect too? Hn! That’s just impossible for a human being, since our very nature renders us imperfect. The Lord obviously did not mean actual walking; rather He was referring to Abram’s behaviour. He wanted him to follow His rules and regulations for living, and be blameless in following them. As we just said though, it’s a tad difficult for humans to be blameless. The Lord surely saw something in Abram’s spirit that appealed to Him, and I doubt He expected him to be mistake free, but as we keep saying, He most definitely expected him to have a right heart; sincerely trying to be as perfect as humanly possible. And remember, the Lord knows the state of our livers better than anyone else, since it’s Him who made us and also saw our forefathers fall prey to sin. So how could He expect perfection from imperfection eh? However, the Lord decided that Abram was His man; from his loins He would raise up a special, a chosen people to set before the world as an example: a people who would worship and glorify Him. Thus He said to Abram, after introducing Himself: ‘And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.’ (vs.2) Ah my Friends, can you imagine that? You’re just sitting there quietly, in the winter of your years, waiting for the grim reaper to come and take you home, then suddenly, one day, this stranger shows up, says He’s Almighty God, and He wants you to follow Him blamelessly. Now if that didn’t get your attention, then the next part certainly would. This stranger also wants to make a binding agreement with you, and provide oodles of offspring. You’d certainly sit up and take notice; either run him out of town, or ask for more info. Well we know the Lord wasn’t really a stranger to Abram, they were already acquainted. I’m just trying to be somewhat dramatic. In truth, they were much more than merely acquainted, for it was the Lord who had called him to leave his family and migrate to a faraway land. ‘And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.’ (Gen.12:2) Now note, Abram was already seventy five years old when he got God’s call and migrated from Haran with his wife, Sarai and his nephew, Lot. They set out for an unknown land just on the Lord’s say so. And when he came to the land of Canaan, then inhabited by the Canaanites, ‘The Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed, will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.’ (Gen.12:7) We can now begin to see why the Lord chose Abram for such a great honour: because of that mighty word, faith, though then it was more like a great trust. Abram trusted the Lord to keep His promise. Although he was old in earthly years, had no children, and in the natural really couldn’t see how the promises would be accomplished, he believed, and steadfastly followed the Lord’s direction. Another time when the Lord reiterated the promise of his seed being plentiful, He brought Abram out of his tent and told him, ‘Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.’ (Gen.15:5-6) Yes my people, that’s where it all began: One man, hearing the call of an invisible power deep in his heart, believing it to be genuine, and feeling it so strongly, that he packed up his family and worldly belongings and moved on to God alone knew where, even though there was nothing in his life right then to give him some semblance of hope. It’s not like him or his wife was still in childbearing age, or he had money and a powerful army behind him to conquer the land. No, he had nothing at all that could, in practical terms, portend such a great ending. All he had was a promise. And he believed the promise wholeheartedly, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Oh Friends, that’s how we’re also expected to believe and behave; except that we now call it faith; ‘the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ (Heb.11:1) ‘For we walk by faith, not by sight.’ (2 Cor.5:7) And I’ll let you into a little secret here. I wrote this Bit entirely on faith. I knew I was supposed to use that Bit of Scripture, but I didn’t have a clue what I was going to say, and the Good Lord did guide me to write something fairly sensible, once I’d taken the initial plunge of faith. And now I’ve become so full of myself, (smile) that I can say with great authority, we’ll continue this tomorrow, for there’s much more to be said. I invoke the obvious proviso though; if the Good Lord’s willing, cause it’s always up to Him. So until tomorrow my Friends, go safely, walk with the Most High God Jehovah, and like Abram, just trust and believe, have faith in whatever the Lord has promised you. Much LOVE!...there’s no need for sight…when you’re walking…hand in hand…with God…
Wow! What a privilege it is my Friends, to be called upon by the Most High God Jehovah, especially at ninety- nine years old! You know the majority of us won’t even live to our allotted three score and ten, much less ninety- nine. But, for whatever reason, the Lord’s eye fell on Abram. And what did he require of him? ‘Walk before me and be thou perfect.’ The Lord was certainly asking a lot of poor ole Abram. At 99, who knows if he could still put one foot in front the other, (smile) and be perfect too? Hn! That’s just impossible for a human being, since our very nature renders us imperfect. The Lord obviously did not mean actual walking; rather He was referring to Abram’s behaviour. He wanted him to follow His rules and regulations for living, and be blameless in following them. As we just said though, it’s a tad difficult for humans to be blameless. The Lord surely saw something in Abram’s spirit that appealed to Him, and I doubt He expected him to be mistake free, but as we keep saying, He most definitely expected him to have a right heart; sincerely trying to be as perfect as humanly possible. And remember, the Lord knows the state of our livers better than anyone else, since it’s Him who made us and also saw our forefathers fall prey to sin. So how could He expect perfection from imperfection eh? However, the Lord decided that Abram was His man; from his loins He would raise up a special, a chosen people to set before the world as an example: a people who would worship and glorify Him. Thus He said to Abram, after introducing Himself: ‘And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.’ (vs.2) Ah my Friends, can you imagine that? You’re just sitting there quietly, in the winter of your years, waiting for the grim reaper to come and take you home, then suddenly, one day, this stranger shows up, says He’s Almighty God, and He wants you to follow Him blamelessly. Now if that didn’t get your attention, then the next part certainly would. This stranger also wants to make a binding agreement with you, and provide oodles of offspring. You’d certainly sit up and take notice; either run him out of town, or ask for more info. Well we know the Lord wasn’t really a stranger to Abram, they were already acquainted. I’m just trying to be somewhat dramatic. In truth, they were much more than merely acquainted, for it was the Lord who had called him to leave his family and migrate to a faraway land. ‘And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.’ (Gen.12:2) Now note, Abram was already seventy five years old when he got God’s call and migrated from Haran with his wife, Sarai and his nephew, Lot. They set out for an unknown land just on the Lord’s say so. And when he came to the land of Canaan, then inhabited by the Canaanites, ‘The Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed, will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.’ (Gen.12:7) We can now begin to see why the Lord chose Abram for such a great honour: because of that mighty word, faith, though then it was more like a great trust. Abram trusted the Lord to keep His promise. Although he was old in earthly years, had no children, and in the natural really couldn’t see how the promises would be accomplished, he believed, and steadfastly followed the Lord’s direction. Another time when the Lord reiterated the promise of his seed being plentiful, He brought Abram out of his tent and told him, ‘Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.’ (Gen.15:5-6) Yes my people, that’s where it all began: One man, hearing the call of an invisible power deep in his heart, believing it to be genuine, and feeling it so strongly, that he packed up his family and worldly belongings and moved on to God alone knew where, even though there was nothing in his life right then to give him some semblance of hope. It’s not like him or his wife was still in childbearing age, or he had money and a powerful army behind him to conquer the land. No, he had nothing at all that could, in practical terms, portend such a great ending. All he had was a promise. And he believed the promise wholeheartedly, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Oh Friends, that’s how we’re also expected to believe and behave; except that we now call it faith; ‘the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ (Heb.11:1) ‘For we walk by faith, not by sight.’ (2 Cor.5:7) And I’ll let you into a little secret here. I wrote this Bit entirely on faith. I knew I was supposed to use that Bit of Scripture, but I didn’t have a clue what I was going to say, and the Good Lord did guide me to write something fairly sensible, once I’d taken the initial plunge of faith. And now I’ve become so full of myself, (smile) that I can say with great authority, we’ll continue this tomorrow, for there’s much more to be said. I invoke the obvious proviso though; if the Good Lord’s willing, cause it’s always up to Him. So until tomorrow my Friends, go safely, walk with the Most High God Jehovah, and like Abram, just trust and believe, have faith in whatever the Lord has promised you. Much LOVE!...there’s no need for sight…when you’re walking…hand in hand…with God…
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