When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—'God Almighty.' Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life” (Genesis 17:1 New Living Translation).
A Covenant of Land and Fruitfulness
The Lord was about to do something amazing in the life of Abram. The Almighty One was going to make a covenant with this old man: “I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants” (Genesis 17:2 NLT).
The covenant promised to multiply his descendants greatly. Nations would come from him, and of those nations would be kings.
Land would also be given to Abram’s descendants as a permanent inheritance: “And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8 NLT).
The Lord’s Requirements
What did the Lord Almighty require of Abram in return? SERVICE AND HOLINESS: “Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.”
The words “serve me faithfully,” actually means, “walk before me.” It indicates that we are to conduct our affairs in plain view of God. To undertake His will faithfully—a service to which He inspires us and observes us.
Service is our apprenticeship to the mastery of Christ. It is a win-win; we mature through service, and the world reaps the benefits of our service.
Serving the cause of Christ is most effective when mixed with faith—strong faith. Serving Christ out of habit displays the proper actions but often lacks a faith-filled heart. But service that springs from an abiding faith is satisfying and fulfilling.
Faith sees the broad plans of God . . . service (faith in action) brings them to pass.
To live a “blameless” life is to set aside hindrances to one’s mission. But to be blameless sounds utterly impossible. The apostle Paul said that he was blameless regarding the ceremonial law (Philippians 3:6), but when He came to a saving relationship with Jesus he understood true blamelessness for the first time. He was washed in the Blood of Christ and was counted righteous by faith.
To be cleansed by the Blood of Christ is to be blamelessness. With such knowledge we aim to faithfully fulfil our mission without distractions that impede our success.
I think it's interesting that God told Abram to live a blameless life when he was already 99 years old! It would seem as if God knew Abram would indeed live much longer, and still have the time to "live a blameless life!" He buried Sarah when she died at 127 years of age, and it is said that Abram (Abraham)lived to be 175! My goodness, Moses didn't get the great assignment from God until he was in his 80's. And there is scripture to support God's intent for man to live about 120 years, though the average life expectancy in this day is about 77.
ReplyDeleteSo, it would seem that if you're "young", you certainly could have a long time to serve God (if Jesus tarries), and if you're in the "golden years", you shouldn't just sit down and say, "I'm done", because you should believe for as many years as you can to serve in your apprenticeship! That's what I'm aiming for!