What would you do for a million dollars? What if the amount of money was so large you could not count it? Would you do anything, even if it was offensive to you? Is there anything you would not do? How do you respond to God’s promises when he just wants you to obey?
Playing the hypothetical game with money can be fun. Many of us have planned how we would spend the money if we won the lottery. It’s a nice little imagination game than can capture our attention for a while. Then we realize it will never happen, especially if we don’t play the lottery.
But God’s promises are a horse of a different color. They stand out. We know he keep his promises. Yet, we often don’t take him up on them. Why? We don’t want to wait. We want it all immediately, which is funny when we think about it, because we must wait for lots of things. We wait nine months for a child to be born. We wait for school to be out for the summer. We wait in long check out lines when Christmas shopping.
When we realize it is our impatience and lack of faith in God’s promises that stops us from taking him up on his promises, is the time we start the process of taking hold of his promises. It is no different than being an addict. Only when we realize and admit our problem can we take steps to be better. So, we must come to grips with our impatience and lack of faith to start the process of building our faith and taking God up on his promises.
Just as God promised Abraham that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars and made it so, God’s promises are valid for us today. Just Abraham walked before the Lord, we must walk before him as well. Just as Abraham continued to believe in God, we must continue to believe in him. It is our acceptance of God’s promises and our faith in him to fulfill them that allows us to see his promises come true in our lives.
I pray we all believe God’s promises. I pray we walk before him in faith. I pray each one of us will build our faith and take God up on his promises, trusting him to fulfill them. Walk before God. Build your faith. Trust in God’s promises. Trust God to fulfill his promises. Live the abundant life.
Genesis 17:1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.”
Marty Pressey 