Jan 5

Genesis 12-14

God's promise to Abram.

Today's reading is a great example of God's everlasting faithfulness. In chapter 12, God tells Abram to move his family to a different land. He promises to give this land to Abram's descendants:

"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (verses 2-3)

Abram shows his faith in God by moving his family and all his possessions to a new land. But Abram soon forgets God's promise. When he arrives in Egypt, he becomes afraid. He thinks that the Egyptians will kill him so they can have his beautiful wife Sarai to themselves. So he lies and tells them that she is his sister. If Abram had remembered God's promise (whoever curses you I will curse) then he would have had nothing to fear. Even if the Egyptians tried to kill him, they would not have succeed, because God would have protected Abram. He could have confidently told the truth.

Despite Abram's lie, God still remains faithful. He delivers them from Egypt safely and He repeats the promise in Genesis 13:14-17:

"Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."

This is important for us today because it is so easy for us to behave like Abram did. We know God's promises, but we forget so easily and fall into sin and fear. Thankfully, God's faithfulness remains in spite of our unfaithfulness. Even if we forget His promises, it will never mean that He will forget. We can be confident in God's never-failing promises and faithfulness!