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May 2
Judg
19 - 21
COVENANTED?
MEMORISE:
'Wherefore come out from among them, And be ye separate, saith
the Lord, and touch not The unclean thing; and I will receive
you.' (2 Cor 6:17)
READ:
Genesis 17:1-6
Fifteen years after God called
Abraham; the Lord introduced himself as the All sufficient One,
Jehovah El-Saddai, and thereafter asked that a covenant be entered
into by the two of them which would affect Abraham's seed after
him. In Genesis 17:1-23, God made 27 promises to Abraham, asking
only four things from him. God is a covenant - keeping God. He
detests trucebreakers; hence he cannot break his agreement with
his children. God asked Abraham to walk before him. He was also
expected to be perfect in word, thought and deed. He asked Abraham
to circumcise every male, including himself and lastly, that anyone
not circumcised be killed.
Some Christians argue that it
is not possible to be perfect. But God required perfection from
Abraham after 15 years of following him. That standard remains
today. Having known the Lord for a period of time, God expects
you never to tamper with certain things. If you do, you betray
your claim to having walked with him that long. According to our
reading, we see that God made a covenant with Abraham because
he wanted to give him an inheritance. Through the Lord Jesus Christ,
a new covenant was established between God and human beings, to
secure us eternal life. As a result, God has certain expectations
from you, to prove you have been covenanted to him.
In Judges 13:3-5, an angel appeared
to Manoah's wife and warned her not to drink wine, strong drink
or eat anything unclean. She was not to shave the hair of the
baby soon to be born, because he has been covenanted to God as
a Nazarite, right from the womb.
You too are special before God,
a prized possession and the apple of God's eye. So, to enjoy all
the covenant blessings like Samson and Abraham, you should strive
towards perfection, have your heart circumcised through sanctification;
abstain from wine and defiled spiritual food, as well as refusing
Satan's move to shave off the anointing of God upon your life.
You have been bought with a price: you are God's possession. God
places a high premium on your life. Live up to your mandate!
ACTION
POINT
Ask God to circumcise your heart, make you pure and
Let your heart be right and perfect before him. |