Lenten Reader | Day 11

March 14th, 2022

Believe the Lord

After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

- Genesis 15:1-6

When we were missionaries in Spain, we had the privilege of getting to visit Paris during New Years of 2019. As a surprise to our children, Erin’s parents were going to meet us there. Spending a week with their grandparents was going to (and did!) bring them great joy and blessing. So Erin and I decided to wrap up a piece of paper telling them about the trip and to give it to them as a Christmas gift. The problem was – not knowing their grandparents were coming – they didn’t believe that the trip was going to be a blessing. Instead, they were dreading the week of tromping around a cold city visiting museums and old buildings.

It wasn’t until they were awakened by their grandparents from their first sleep in Paris that they realized that our promise of a great blessing was true. They had missed out on several days of excited anticipation. Part of the blessing was lost.

But that’s not the case for Abram in this passage. Yeah, he’s a little skeptical at first – he takes a little convincing. In fact, this isn’t the first time God has promised him a great reward. God makes him a similar promise in Genesis 12. But here, Abram believes what God says will be true, and that belief is part of his blessing. It is credited to him as righteousness.

And that can be the case for us as well. God is going to follow through on his promises. Just like He did for Abram and just like we did for our children. But when we grasp hold of those promises and believe them, we experience them to a fuller degree. The greatest of his promises to us is salvation and eternal life through a new covenant in the Jesus’ blood. When we believe in that promise, He credits it to us as righteousness. We grasp hold of that blessing now and experience it in its fullness in our lives now.

- Erik Allsop

Prayer
Father, credit my belief as righteousness so I can enjoy the blessings of your promises.