God made a promise to a man named Abram (later changed to Abraham). HE said in Genesis 12:2-3,
“And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
As the father of the Jews, this man’s decedents had a unique purpose. They were to be a blessing to the nations. They were to represent God to all people. From them would come the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Yet, the question is why them? God tells them…
It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 7:7-8
As we spend time in the book of Exodus over the next few weeks we will see that the road to fulfilling their purpose was not always a smooth process. God was forming them in order that they would be a blessing. Before they were really ready to declare that God cared about, truly loved and ultimately guided them there was a journey they needed to take.
This week we will see how the realization that obeying God under pressure was part of formation that needed to happen in order that they could be a blessing to others.
Do you ever wonder why God choose you? Of the people He could have invite to represent Him, why you? Is it because you are wiser, stronger or more capable than someone else? Or is it because through the transformation that others see in us that they know it was God’s doing. He is the One in whose strength we are sent to the world.
There is a saying, “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.” We are being formed to bless.
living for an audience of ONE,
Scott Bissell