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Today's reading is from the

Promises, Promises
Genesis 22
God promised to give Abraham all that he longed for
and more
Genesis 22:18 Through your offspring all nations on
earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.
Human beings havent changed much in 4,000 years.
The longing for children and the desire for land still
surge up with surprising emotional power.
Consider the estimated six million American couples
one in seven would-be parentswho are unable to have
children. For most of them, this brings deep anguish. Or
think about the people who work double shifts,
sacrificing their free time in order to own a home rather
than rent.
Abraham would have understood. When God wanted his
attention, he promised him land and more sons than he
could count. To a Babylonian emigrant, 75 years old and
childless, owning nothing but his tents and animals, the
promises sounded wonderful. In fact, they sounded
impossible. Yet, because God himself was making the
promise, Abraham believed the LORD, and he credited
it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).
For the God who had created the heavens and the earth,
making good on the promises ought to have been a snap.
But God did not make it easy for Abraham. Not until 25
years later, when Abraham was 100, did the promise of a
son come true. Then, incredibly, God told Abraham to

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make a human sacrifice of his young son.

Astonishingly, Abraham followed Gods orders. And
God gave him back his son.
Far From Fulfilled
When Abraham died, Gods promises were far from fully
realized. Abraham had only that one son to cling to. His
only land was a burial plot. He still lived in a tent, and
his only permanent structures were altars erected to
worship the God who had made all those promises.
God, having promised him everything a man of that time
could want, apparently wanted Abraham to think even
bigger thoughts. He had slipped some words in along
with the promises of offspring and land: All peoples on
earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3). God
wanted to bless, not just Abraham, but the whole world.
Thousands of years later, in the time of Jesus, the full
meaning of those words would become clear (see
Galatians 3:69,1618).
Life Questions
What kind of promises does God make today? What
longings does He Fulfill?

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