Abraham’s Blessings
are Mine
One of
the obvious blessings of Abraham was his ability to know the voice of
God. In his generation, there was nothing close to the bible to guide
men in spiritual wisdom. The prophets of God that became town-criers and
watchmen to the household of Israel concerning the will of God had not
yet evolved. But even during the idolatry and wickedness of his time,
Abram could still discern the voice of God. He could acknowledge the
presence of the Almighty hands of God upon him. This ability is more
than we can describe as wisdom. He did not describe the voice of God as
a figment of his imagination. When God spoke to him, he recognized the
highest authority, revered the Holy God and followed his directives.
One might wonder
what God thought when he singled Abram out of his generation and asked him to
leave his friends, his kindred and his family and go to that place He will point
to him. We fully understand from the Bible that God had never spoken with Abram
before the assignment. The thought of God concerning humanity is the same from
the beginning of age and will remain the same through eternity. “For I know
the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not
of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11) These awesome
thoughts were in the mind of God towards Abram and the poor man was completely
ignorant of it. Abram did not know that he was desolate like a desert; he did
not know that his marriage with Sarai would be unfruitful. It seemed that God
was saying in His thought, “Abram if you obey my commandment, I will change your
unfruitful destiny to a blessed one.” All these transforming blessings towards
Abram were locked into the thoughts of God and Abram had no idea. Yet he honored
God in his actions.
Now the
Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
and from thy father’s house unto a land that I shew thee: And I will make of
thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and
thou shall be a blessing. I will bess them that bless thee, and curse him
that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
(Genesis 12:1-3)
The message of
God was explicit in the passage. God was telling Abram to separate himself for
the blessing He had in store for him. He was asking him to relocate to the zone
of his divine blessing because he cannot bless him in the land that had already
been cursed. He cannot bless him in the community that practiced despicable
abomination of idolatry. He cannot singly bless him amidst the crooked people as
they all would have choked the blessing out of him and left him with
frustration. With every instruction of God, with every vision, God will make a
provision. Once the Creator had spoken, all that Abram would need to sustain him
in the journey, in terms of protection, strength and provision had been made
available in the spiritual realm. All that remained was for his obedience
to call those provisions into being.
Abram responded
faithfully. He packed his bags and set out to follow the fingers of God to where
He will point to him to go. At times we always think this is easy and that
anyone can do it. One of the most difficult projects of man on earth is to
embark on the project of change. Even if the change is rewarding and pleasant
and easy to accomplish, man always likes to avoid changes. It is always very
difficult to depart from your place of birth to a new environment you did not
know anything of. The obedience of Abram was all that God needed to bless Him.
The moment Abram followed the leading of God; the Heavenly Father faithfully
flowed in manifesting His words and blessed Abram. The tip of the iceberg was
the riches and wealth he first experience in his relationship with God. They
were nothing compared with the blessings God had in store for him. Along the
line in the relationship of Abram with God, the Heavenly Father entered into
covenant with Abram.
It is a normal
practice for people to change their names. However, at the end of the legal
document that effects the name change, there is a legal qualification that
reads, “all former documents remain valid.” When a man changes his name, the
whole world may recognize the change, but it does not affect his spiritual
identity and his spiritual destiny before God, because all former identities
(both physical and spiritual) still remain valid. When the Lord changes the name
of a person, his spiritual identity and his spiritual destiny is out rightly
altered. It does not matter whether the people of the world recognize this
change or not. At the age of ninety, God reiterated His covenant with Abram and
changed his spiritual destiny through a prophetic pronouncement: “Neither
shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a
father of many nations have made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful,
and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I
will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their
generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and unto thy seed
after thee.” (Genesis 17:5-7) The same deft touch of the God was made upon
the name of Sarai the wife of Abraham. Her name was changed to Sarah. “And
God said unto Abraham, as for Sarai thy wife, thou shall not call her name Sarai,
but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of
her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of
people shall be of her.” (Genesis 17:15-16)
The difference
between Abram and Abraham is the change of destiny that heralds the
unprecedented blessing of God. The covenant that he had with God was eventually
sealed with an oath in which the Heavenly Father ascertained the completion of
every term detailed in the covenant.
The obedience of
Abraham, his faith and kindness and his unselfish attitude towards life made
difference in the life of every human being in the entire world. In our century,
every Christian claims the blessing of Abraham. Do we possess the obedience of
Abraham? Does the faith of Abraham pose a challenge to us? Have we ever reasoned
in the kindness and unselfish attitude towards life like Abraham? The name of
Abraham became great according to the promise of God because he centered his
mind on righteousness demanded by the righteous God. You can change the course
of the lives of others that will come after you in accordance to the good
thoughtfulness of God with your obedience, faith, kindness and God-like
attitudes. The blessing of Abraham will surely be yours and your name will be
great as well if you are ready to pay the price.
Michael A.
Eleyinafe
