Exceedingly Great Reward
Exceedingly Great Reward
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Few things seem to satisfy God more than blessing his children. The Bible is full of countless blessings that our Heavenly Father wants to freely give us. From the very beginning the Bible tells us that God created us in his image and likeness and the very next thing he did after that was to bless us. We did nothing; we did not work for the blessing nor did we have to earn it through good behavior. God loves blessing his children. The other side of the coin of God’s blessings and rewards is that we love receiving them. We memorize his promises of blessings and we write books dedicated exclusively to discovering and claiming them. But often times in our search for God’s blessing we miss out on the greatest blessing of all.
One day out of nowhere God showed up to Abram who at that time was seventy-five years old and told him to “leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3 NLT) What an amazing promise! And Abram together with his wife, nephew Lot, and some of his workers departed just as God had instructed him. Abram was on the way to claiming and receiving God’s blessings.
Abram became a very wealthy man and so did his nephew Lot. They accumulated so much livestock that the blessing became a problem and a source of conflict between them. They had so much that the land could not support the both of them. The blessing had become a reason for division, so they separated and they each went their own way. Around the same time a war broke out between nine kingdoms, five against four. The winning kings plundered the area taking the spoils of war, all the food, and they also captured Lot Abram’s nephew and carried away everything that he owned.
Suddenly what once was a great blessing had now become a great curse. Abram was eventually able to rescue his nephew. But what happened? Why were things going in the wrong direction? The problem was that Abram in searching for God’s blessing had lost sight of the God who blessed him. Look at what God told Abram after things happened:
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” – Genesis 15:1 NKJ
When God blesses us, his goal is not for us to go running after the blessings, the goal and what our Heavenly Father desires and wants is for us to go running after the one who is blessing. The endgame of God’s reward is not earthly and temporary things. The goal, the endgame, is the exceedingly great reward that is God himself.
Questions
- What have you done to earn God’s blessings? For example, salvation.
- Did Abram do anything to attain God’s promise?
- Why did Abram’s blessing become a source of conflict?
- What is the purpose behind God’s blessings?
- Why is God our exceedingly great reward?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, I have done nothing to earn your favor, your mercy, your grace, or your love. Yet, you are my exceedingly great reward. Today I pray that your blessings would serve to point me towards you and not away from you. I want to love you more than the blessing because I know that earthly things are temporary, they are fleeting, and are soon to end. But you are the eternal loving God, my exceedingly great reward. Thank you Father in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
