Daily Devotions – To Be Your God

Daily Devotions – To Be Your God

Photo by Grant Whitty on Unsplash

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart: Genesis 17:1-8  (NIV)
The Covenant of Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

This is the covenant God makes with Abraham and all the generations that would follow.  First, God changes his name.  Abram means “exalted Father”.  Abraham means “father of a multitude”. God’s covenant would not only change Abraham’s surroundings, it has changed Abraham’s identity.  Abraham and his people would now, also, bear the mark of circumcision as further identification of their new identity.  We do something similar as we enter the body of Christ.  We give our new family members a name and we mark them with the sign of the cross. http://sothrichfield.podbean.com

 

Genesis 17:1-8  (NIV)
The Covenant of Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

 

This is the covenant God makes with Abraham and all the generations that would follow.  First, God changes his name.  Abram means “exalted Father”.  Abraham means “father of a multitude”. God’s covenant would not only change Abraham’s surroundings, it has changed Abraham’s identity.  Abraham and his people would now, also, bear the mark of circumcision as further identification of their new identity.  We do something similar as we enter the body of Christ.  We give our new family members a name and we mark them with the sign of the cross.