Good Idea! (?)

Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” [Genesis 15.1]

Today's One Year Chronological Bible reading is full of application for us today. I don't understand all that is spoken, but maybe a few key thoughts will be seen...

God spoke to Abram. And, the words He spoke to Abram were "good" and certainly encouraging by any standard, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” I should think any one of us would be more than happy to hear God speak these words to us. What more could we ask for?

Well... there was a quality of choice in Abram that might be overlooked unless we pause for just a moment to see it. That quality was revealed in Abram's response to God:

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” [Genesis 15.2-3]

Notice that Abram was not satisfied with these blessings just for himself. The quality Abram chose to have was that of one concerned for others, not just himself. He saw that blessings were only truly good if they went beyond himself. But there is more to it than even that... 

Blessings aren't just for anyone. Abram understood that God's blessings follow blood lines - God made a promise to Abram and he understood that the perpetuity of that blessing was dependent upon his bloodline continuing on. It was in this concern for others, and not himself, that Abram's famous faith was manifest and God's subsequent pleasure with Abram's faith became notorious.

Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. [Genesis 15.5-6]

Then, Abram did something amazing. He asked God to show him how to recognize for sure that he was understanding everything correctly.

But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” [Genesis 15.8]

God's response was covenantal, and, as such was prophetic of the Law and the animals used for sacrifices which, in even greater prophetic depth, revealed Jesus and His sacrifice.

The LORD told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. [Genesis 15.9-10]

And then, chapter 16, in contrast to this covenant, introduces us to a problem. It all started when Abram listened to a good idea that was not a God idea. Of course it was all innocent enough - Sarai meant no harm in her idea and Abram meant no disobedience in agreeing with her idea. They just both ever so slightly veered from God's Word (that the two of them would produce a child). They had no idea that their mixing of human ideas with God's Word would yield the precursor to the world's 2nd largest religion: Islam. 

There is much about the Abram-Sarai-Hagar triangle that begs to be addressed, but, suffice it to say, God's plan was specifically for Abram and Sarai to bear a child which, after the detour with Hagar, they eventually did. Their human idea however, that led to Ishmael, serves to remind us that human solutions rarely, if ever, serve God's plan. In fact, human ideas are the opposite of faith as seen in Abram's story and would account for why God would start off His Ten Commandments with this:

You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]

When God told Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great,” He was being very literal and exclusive in His use of the word, "I." The human idea that led to Ishmael was not something of God's plan - it was not an act of faith that pleased God.

God is very specific in His intent to bless us. We must understand from Abram's story, that His blessing however doesn't manifest until we see ourselves as a conduit for it instead of the pool into which it terminates. We must furthermore understand that man's solutions for dealing with fear, well-being and reward are NOT the way of faith and are NOT the plan of God when He said, “Do not be afraid..., for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”

In Christ the same is true. We must understand that God's blessing does not manifest until we take up our cross and follow Christ as a conduit of blessing. Likewise, we must understand that God's blessings come exclusively through Jesus Christ and no other way. Man's ideas and solutions should be consciously identified and purposefully avoided at all cost regardless how "good" they sound to us and those closest to us.

Let's look at Abram's example of how NOT to rely on human solutions:

So Abraham said to God, “May Ishmael live under your special blessing!” [Genesis 17.18]

Remember, "Ishmael" was a "good idea" Sarai and Abram agreed upon ...and see God's response:

But God replied, “No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant. [Genesis 17.19]

So, are man's solutions useless? Do not man's solutions of debt, insurance, medicine and technology have value? Of course they do! BUT! They are not the plan of God - they are not the product of covenant - and they are not the way of faith. In fact, as Ishmael proved to be problematic, domineering and oppressive, so, debt, insurance, medicine and technology all are problematic, domineering and oppressive today.

We have choices to make every day about what we do in covenant and in faith. Sometimes we let good human ideas interfere with God's plan. Like Abram however, we should strive nonetheless to remain in covenant and in faith (in Christ). The result will be "change" just like Abram's name was changed to Abraham.

Father, in a world where good ideas and human solutions abound, may I be found focused on Jesus, my cross, and the exclusive obedience of faith that I might enjoy being a conduit of Your blessings. So be it.