Epiphanies: Promise

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding, and I will be their God.” ~ Genesis 17:1-8

God is in the promise.

God's promise goes back to the very beginning, but that lasting nature of it became evident with this promise to Abram.

God's people will not be forgotten. They will live and multiply.

It's a promise that is inherited by us. God is still showing up in promises.

When I was growing up, the idea of the sacred nature of a promise was instilled to me. A promise kept showed you who someone was. It showed you a heart of integrity.

The best and most wonderful promise is "I will always love you."

God keeps that promise. God showed us what love was through Abraham, through Moses, through David...

And most especially through Jesus. That love was made complete by the triumph over death, but Jesus also showed God's love through his actions while he walked the earth.

We are God's hands and feet and heart when we make and keep promises of love, whether it is sitting with neighbors who are grieving, building homes, feeding and clothing those who are without,

God is in the promise. Our promise to love is the best way when can show that.

Help me to live into the promise of your love by being love myself. Amen