So, the LORD makes promises to me. I accept those promises and expect that He will follow through on them. And as the great and merciful God He is, He does.
“13And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring…15Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’” – Genesis 28:13 & 15 (ESV)
Above you can see the promise of God to Jacob that was revealed in a dream. The key thing I am seeing is that the LORD promised something to Jacob and as He says in the last sentence, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”. The LORD makes promises to us and we expect that He will fulfill them.
“20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.’” – Genesis 28:20-22 (ESV)
But, what about us. Do we reciprocate to Him with promises of our own? Jacob did. I did accept the gift of salvation from Christ. I did promise to go wherever He would have me go and do whatever He would have me do.
It is not just about making the promises. It is about fulfilling them. I know that I can and will count on God to fulfill His promises (even if I am frustrated by the timing of His fulfillment). I know that He promised me eternal life in heaven and that I would not ever thirst for Him. I know that those promises are being fulfilled, because I do not thirst for Him as He is with me always. But, am I fulfilling the promises I have made to Him.
I sit here in the mornings studying the Word of God and doing my best to learn from Him and take that learning into the world with me. I write about my learning in obedience to Him. I feel as though I am fulfilling my promises to the LORD, but am I?
I know I should not be selfish and look for the LORD to give me something in return for the work, but the work is exhausting if I am being transparent with my thoughts. I don’t pretend that all is rosy and wonderful, as I do struggle daily. I recently stated to my wife, asking, “when am I going to acknowledged”.
And, that is the deal. I did not promise to the LORD to get something out of it. I promised to the LORD to give something to Him. There is nothing for me in this world. I am here to do the work and receive the reward later. I promised to do the work. I did not say, “yea God, I’ll do it, but only if you do this”. There is no quid pro quo in this world with the LORD. He made a promise to me and will fulfill that promise. I am to do the same.
What promises have been made to or from you? Is there an expectation of fulfillment in those promises? What if you looked at the promises from God as those that will be fulfilled and you then reciprocated with promises that will be fulfilled of your own?
Trevor's Thoughts 