You ever have those moments while reading Scripture that you come across something and you respond by going nuts (my favorite being Are You Kidding Me)? I had that moment yesterday while reading about Abraham in the early years of his journey with the Lord.
The Lord had establish a very significant covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 and Abraham responded by doing what the Lord asked of him. Now Abraham is on the journey to live out the covenant but as you discover quickly, there will be challenges to that covenant being fulfilled. One of those being around becoming a "great nation." Listen, the truth for all of us is that we want to be "great" for the Lord but if we aren't careful, we will compromise that "greatness" because we lose sight of the One who promised it in the first place. We are so good at quickly taking our eyes off of the Lord and placing them upon ourselves and Abraham has that moment to do so. Look at Genesis 14:21-23...how could I have missed this:
The king of Sodom said to Abram, "give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." The king is saying let me help you by becoming a "great nation." Let's make a deal and I promise it will work out in your favor. This is exactly one of the temptations that Satan used on Jesus in the wilderness. How does Abram respond?
"With his hand raised he said, I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even A THREAD or the STRAP OF A SANDAL, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'"
What? Seriously, how did I miss that? Great job Abraham. You quickly learned the lesson that the Lord cannot and will not bless compromises. And as soon as that thought came to my mind then I simply found myself struggling to swallow what I had just sipped. Uggh. A thread is not that big of a deal...a strap of a sandal, who cares. Nope...to Abram those are compromises, and he wouldn't allow the king of Sodom one piece of crumb. Jesus and Satan: remind yourself of the three temptations in Matthew 4. They are actually pretty sweet deals for Jesus, but like Abram, Jesus wasn't about to give Satan a crumb or Satan would have declared that he was the one who gave Jesus the kingdom of this world. Yikes. But Abram said no. Jesus said no. And because of that God was glorified and both men were blessed to experience the promise that the Lord had declared to them.
But what about me? Gulp, I finally swallowed that sip and drunk the truth that the Lord cannot and will not bless compromises. It stings but yet is good for my soul to drink. We find unique ways of saying, it's not that big of a deal...oh and that is when Satan has us. It would have been so easy for Abram to give in, but he would have missed out on the bigger blessing. I don't want to think about what I have missed out on, how about you? But, by the Grace of God, today is a new day. Abram would fall short later on. David fell short. Moses. Joshua. Shall I continue on? But you know what I am eternally grateful for? I am thankful that Jesus didn't fall short! Even in the Garden when Jesus might have been tempted the greatest temptation at His weakest moment, He would not allow Satan a crumb and friends, that made all the difference for you and I.
Let's drink some truth today. The Lord has and still wants to continue to bless us, but He is joyful to bless us when we haven't compromised with the enemy. The enemy only comes to steal, kill, and destroy so as clever as he is, DO NOT GIVE HIM A CRUMB! And I think Abram gives us a great choice of words to use when tempted: Call out - "Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth" you are all that I desire please come to my rescue and get this snake out of here for me. Amen.
