Day 4

Read: 

Genesis 22:16-18

Dig Deeper:

Did you chuckle at the beginning of today's reading like I did? "I swear by myself" sounds silly at face value, but when you let it sink in just a little deeper, it's one of the most powerful statements that can ever be made.

Ever talked to a habitual liar? If they made you a promise, it wouldn't hold much weight would it? What about a trusted friend? That would feel a bit more reliable, right? Now, think about the Creator and Ruler of the Universe (who always keeps his promises by the way)--that's the one who has made you a promise. When that happens, game over, I'd say it's as good as done.

In this passage when God says, "I swear by myself," He is making the highest form of promise possible. He holds all the cards (and the chips for that matter). And, when He says He's going to play them, He always does.

Let's look at his promise too. It's actually a reiteration of the promise from yesterday's reading. Once again, He promises to make Abram (at this time now know as Abraham), the patriarch of a great nation that blesses the entire world, and He does exactly that!

Do you want to know something that makes this God Guaranteed Promise even cooler? God actually reiterates this promise to Abraham after a particularly confounding moment where God had asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, whom he loved more than his own life, on an altar. In a strange twist of events, a lamb appears just as Abraham is about to draw blood, and Abraham sacrifices the lamb as a substitute.

Sound familiar? That's why we can know for certain that this particular promise is a God-ordained foreshadow of what was to come. As John plainly states centuries later, '“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"' This is a picture of Jesus himself! Insert mind-blown emoji here.

And for the added cherry on top, today let's be reminded that there are God Guaranteed promises waiting for you as well.

Declaration: Say this next statement out loud as a declaration of what you have learned today.

God will never let me down. All of God's promises are true.

Pray:

God, thank you that you that you are trustworthy. You prove this time and time again. I pray that you would reveal your promises to me, and as you do, help me to believe them. Thank you for what you have done and will continue to do in my life. Amen.