What does it say?
The Lord spoke to Abram. Was it audible or was it a vision? I do not know but I do know that the Lord made his will known to Abram and His will was that Abram observe His commandments and the Lord would bless Him; thereby blessing Abram, all of the families of the earth would be blessed. Abram departed his family, as the Lord commanded, to the Land of Canaan. He took Lot his nephew, the son of his dead brother Haran, Sarai his wife, all of the wealth and servants that they accumulated in Haran. The Lord told Abram that He would give the land to his descendants. Abram went to Egypt because there was a famine in Canaan. He lied to the Egyptians and told his wife to lie and say that she was his sister. Pharaoh took Sarai into his household and gave Abram livestock. The Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with plagues because of Sarai; therefore, when Pharaoh heard what Abram had done, he drove him and his wife away. Abram went to the altar that he made between the cities of Bethel and Ai and worshiped the Lord. Is this the site of the temple mount? Lot and Abram separated. Lot went to the Jordan Valley eastward and Abram to the land of Canaan westward. Once in Canaan, the Lord spoke to Abram. Vision? Audible? He told Abram that He will give him and his descendants the land and will make his descendants more numerous than can be numbered. What an incredible thing to hear when you have no children, your wife is barren and you are already an old man. There was war among the kings. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were defeated. The victors took the spoils, which included Lot and his possessions. When Abram heard that Lot had been captured, Abram took his men, defeated the captures, brought back lot with all of his possessions and the goods a persons of Sodom. When Abram brought back the goods, he was meet by the king of Sodom and Melchizedek king of Salem who was a priest of God. Melchizedek gave Abram a blessing and Abram gave him a tenth of all the goods. Abram gave back all that was taken to the king of Sodom.
What shall I do?
The Lord God chooses to whom He will be gracious and to whom He will show compassion. No one deserves the blessings of God. Abram was not righteous in that he never sinned. Abram was a liar. He lied to Pharaoh about his wife Sarai and Pharaoh made a bad decision based on Abram’s lie. God punished Pharaoh but blessed Abram. Why? Only God knows! However, I do know that if God says to do something, I should do it, and if God makes a promise, He will do it. God promised Abram land and many descendants. God fulfilled this promise to Abram. God also told him that in him all of the nations of the earth would be blessed. Jesus Christ is the descendant of Abram by whom God would bless every family on the earth. At this point in the redemptive journey, the promise is not fully disclosed but will find fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. I cannot comprehend what it will by like at the consummation, when heaven and earth are made new, and God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Like Abram, I have difficulty seeing but I trust the word of the Lord. I shall walk through this life by faith in the promises of the Lord and not by sight; I presently see with my human eyes. The patients that I take care of are broken but they were created in the image of God. I work at the beside as a registered nurse, ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of broken people. This is what the Lord God has given me to do for His kingdom and I shall do this for Jesus’ sake. Nursing is the occupation that God has called me too; therefore, I shall understand this calling as ministry.
