Today's Meditation
Read Romans 4:18-25
18Hoping against hope, he (Abraham) believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
23Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
Some snippets of this passage concerning Abraham that we should meditate on this morning:
Hoping against hope....
He did not weaken in faith...
No distrust made him waver...
He grew strong in his faith...
Being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised...
And finally...it will be reckoned to us who also believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead...for our justification.
Abraham was old - and I mean really old - about 100 years old. His wife Sarah, also really old, had not given birth to a child during their entire marriage together. She was considered barren, unable to bear a child. Children were everything to the people of that time period. They were your life blood to carry on your family's inheritance, to help provide for you in your aged years. They were your security. They were essential to your living. Because of Abraham and Sarah's faith, the impossible became possible. God gave them the desires of their hearts and promised them even more. Not just a child, but an inheritance that would bless the nation of Israel, a concept not yet even known to Abraham and Sarah.
If you read the account of Abraham and Sarah, you do not read about them praying to God every night for the blessing of a child. You do not read in the account that they petitioned God for children. You do not read about their sadness in not having children. They were simply faithful, knowing that however God saw fit, God would bless them. That was their faith, not for a particular dream to come true, not for a certain blessing, but just to be blessed.
Is your faith this strong? Is your faith strong enough to simply allow God to bless you without asking for a particular blessing? Are you willing to be open to any blessing God gives you and do you have the heart, the eyes, the spirit to see them?
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