[Biblemat] A) BLESSINGS AND COMMANDS

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Friday morn-
ing to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.  Here
is a article that recently came my way:

BLESSINGS AND COMMANDS

     Have you noticed how people want to accept the good
things (the blessings) of the Bible but ignore or dismiss any
sort of command in God's Word?  "God wants me to happy,"
"God wants to bless me,"  "God wants me to have (fill-in-the-
blank)."  With this thinking, some will justify any number of
actions, regardless of whether it contradicts God's Word.
Many give no thought that God calls upon us to follow after
Jesus or that He wants us to conform to His Will.  "You shall
be Holy, for I am Holy" (1 Pet. 1:16); Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:7).
You cannot accept the blessings of God and ignore His instru-
ctions!

     Consider Abraham's response to a difficult situation.  He
had been promised that his descendants would be as numer-
ous as the stars and that all the nations of the earth would be
blessed through his seed (Gen. 12:3; 15:5).  What great joy
this must have been for him!  Yet, Abraham didn't understand
or know how these things would be accomplished.  Finally God provided a son 
to this this old couple.  They could then
better understand how God would accomplish this promise.
However, some time later, God commanded that Abraham
sacrifice his only son (Gen. 22:2).  How could god's promise
and blessings be fulfilled if Abraham obeyed the command?
In the patriarch's mind, he would have known this was in con-
flict with the promise but he had complete confidence in God.
The writer of Hebrews fills us in a little more on the great faith
of Abraham when he says, "He considered that God is able to
raise men even from the dead..." (Heb. 11:19).

     If Abraham would have reacted like many people today, he
would have told God to forget it.  He would likely have said,
"No, I won't do that, I'll just stick with what you said first!"
Yet he didn't.  He obeyed God's command, and he saw God
provide a substitute sacrifice.  Abraham obeyed God and the
promise was kept.

     We need to remember that OUR duty is to obey God's com-
mands.  It is in God's realm to keep His promises and bless us as He sees 
fit.  Let us be content in the responsibility that
is ours.    --------- Shane Williams in The Lilbourn Light, Vol. 7,
No. 9, Jan. 2007.
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