The Blessing of Obedience
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” Hebrews 6:13-14
This verse is talking about when God made a covenant with Abraham. A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties – a type of contract. Because this covenant was primarily a promise to Abraham, He swore by Himself.
God told Abraham, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” This word blessing comes from the greek word, eulogeo. We get the word “eulogy” or “eulogize” from it. The root eu means “well” or “good.” Logos means, “speech” or “word.” When we put the two parts of the words together, it means to speak well of or to praise. In other words, when you speak well about someone, you speak a blessing.
God was pleased with Abraham because of his faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please Him (God), for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” According to God, Abraham qualified as someone who pleased Him. Verse 8 of the same chapter says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” It goes on to talk about both Abraham and Sarah’s faith, as verse 17 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.”
Abraham loved God, believed and obeyed His word to him, and offered up his long-awaited promise – His only begotten son. Because of that act of faith, God was able to make a covenant that would set the stage for Him to offer back His only begotten Son for the world. Wow!
Abraham’s obedience to God went beyond himself. In fact, it’s still having an impact on all who believe and trust in Jesus. I believe that like Abraham, our obedience to God has a greater impact than what we think as well. Usually, the purpose for our obedience goes way beyond us and our situations.
Let’s follow in the footsteps of Abraham in our faith and obedience to God so that when we stand before Him someday we will hear the blessing of, “Well done.”
Dear Lord, I want my life to be well-pleasing to you. Help me to trust and obey what you would have for me today. Amen.
