SCRIPTURE: Genesis 35
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
(Read my reflection from 2008)
And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him. [Genesis 35:11-13]
When God makes a promise, it stands for all time.
But because we live in time, and are bound by time, the eternal God relates to us in our time, in the “now”.
In this passage we see God renewing His commission and blessing to Jacob, as He had to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Isaac.
God, Who dwells in the ‘eternal now’, Who is above time, enters our time to walk with us through time, and help restore us to ‘eternal life’.
This may sound deep, but the practical blessing is real – God is equally with you and me today, as He was with Jacob, and all others.
And His promises then are equally true, as are His blessings.

But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” [Matthew 22:31-32]
Jesus uses the example of God’s relationship with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to encourage us as well.
God was not just God in the past, He is equally God now, in our present.
His promises then are equally valid for today, His purpose endures for all time.
And His purpose, then and now and until the end of this life, will be to restore us all to eternal life, the kind of life we were created for.
God is the God of resurrection, of life, of hope, of eternal blessing.
That is what He did with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; that is what He is doing with us.

This means that every person hears the commission and blessing of God, and every person needs to respond now, today.
We do not live in the past, we do not make our ‘decision for Christ’ only once and then move on, but every day we renew our commitment to Him.
Like Jacob and his family, we probably need to get rid of a few idols that we have gathered along the way, and renew our promise.
When life gets hard, and it seems like everything is falling apart, or people we love are dying, we can hear God’s assurance – “I am the God of the dead but of the living.”

Today again, the Lord renews His commission and blessing to you.
Today again, renew your commitment to Him.
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. [Hebrews 3:12-14]

PRAYER:
Lord, You are present with me right now. I recommit my heart to You today, and will trust You through all times, and into eternity!