You might have heard of how God walked with Abraham in the Bible and did mighty works with him. But have you thought of how his life got consistently directed by God? Maybe yes, or not. But I find something fascinating in Genesis 17:1, where God spoke to Abraham. Let’s read the scripture.
“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.”
Genesis 17:1 (KJV)
Before God told Abraham to walk blamelessly before Him, He had already told him that he’d make him a great nation (Genesis 12:2). My question is, why did God tell Abraham this if He had spoken already? It wasn’t because Abraham had forgotten God’s instructions but for two reasons.
God’s love language is obedience to His instructions.
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1. To reiterate divine promises
Repetition is for emphasis. When a school teacher consistently repeats a sentence for children to learn, over time, it gets stuck in their minds.
In the same way, God told Abraham to walk before Him and be thou perfect (blameless) to remind Abraham that he shouldn’t meander from the divine promises for any reason.
But before that, Abraham had already had Ishmael with Hagar, the Egyptian. So he had broken a first commitment already. What God told Abraham to do was a vote of confidence for him. It was a means to tell Abraham that He still trusted him with his promises. Could God be telling you this in your life by now?
2. To remind him to be obedient-conscious
One cunning way the devil always uses to make some of God’s children meander from divine purpose is disobedience or paying attention to distraction. The devil created anxiety in Sarah, letting her suggest a bad idea to her husband in order to get a baby, and today, there is still an ongoing struggle between the children of God and Ishmael (of which most are Muslims).
God’s love language is obedience to His instructions (see John 14:15). When you choose to obey Him even when you don’t understand, you secure your destiny from meandering God’s original path. Abraham may have disobeyed God, but God still trusted him. Come to Jesus today. He’ll give you beauty for ashes.
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