Author: Brian Burdett

“Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” – Genesis 28:14

God promised the trickster Jacob what He’d previously promised his father and grandfather before him. All the families of the earth would be blessed through the descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not just Jacob’s family (Israel) – ALL families. Who? How? Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God! It is God’s eternal, unchanging will to redeem for Himself and His glory a new people drawn from every tribe, language, and ethnic people group on the planet. This people will not be formed through marriage or birth but through faith in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. This people will be salt and light filling our world and blessing it.

The big story of the entire Bible is the story of this unfolding will and plan of God. After sin ruined creation, God promised a Savior, a Messiah, a Redeemer Who would defeat Satan, conquering sin and its consequence, which is death. The Old Testament follows the ups and downs of the family God selected to bring forth that Redeemer. The New Testament reveals Jesus, the Redeemer and tells how Jesus accomplished our redemption through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and physical resurrection. It then gives believers our responsibility until the glorious day when our Redeemer returns…. Make disciples of Jesus.

If you’re a follower of Jesus, then you’re part of God’s plan to redeem people from all over the world. You have good works prepared by God for you to do (see Ephesians 2:10). By your prayers and your gifts of time, talent, and treasure, God’s mission is being accomplished. People all over the world are finding new life and forgiveness for their sins through faith in Jesus Christ, the promised descendent Who is blessing all nations. But that work is not finished – not until Jesus returns. Commit yourself. Devote yourself. Let God’s will be done through you as you #FollowJesus

“When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, ‘She is my sister,’ for he feared to say, ‘My wife,’ thinking, ‘lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,’ because she was attractive in appearance.” – Genesis 26:7

What a strange and shameful travel tactic Isaac learned from his father Abraham! What’s particularly striking about Isaac’s scheme is that God had JUST appeared to him a couple of verses earlier. God PROMISED He would bless Isaac if he went where He told him to go. Isaac went but he was still so fearful that he told the locals his wife was his sister. Just in case God wasn’t paying attention enough to bless them. Just in case the locals decided they wanted Rebekah for themselves. Because Isaac doubted God’s ability to bless and protect them, Isaac said his wife was single!

What was Isaac doing? Hedging his bets to protect himself from any bad consequences for obeying God. Isaac went where God told him but didn’t fully trust God’s promise of blessing. So he made some “arrangements” as a “just in case”. Isaac thought up a “clever” way to protect himself rather than trusting God to protect both his wife and himself. Isaac was what the book of James would call a “double-minded” man – believing God but also hedging your bets. Trusting God but only somewhat. Doing what God said to do but trying to manage any possible downsides to obedience. Have you ever hedged your bets like that?

Have you ever chosen to obey God and but also tried to insulate yourself from some of the risks of obedience? We often do. We obey the Bible, but only up to a point… We follow Jesus but also keep our earthly situation “managed”… We obey parts of Scripture but minimize the parts that might upset or offend friends, relatives, coworkers, or employers… We follow Jesus but only in a “proper balance” with our other priorities…. It’s easy to become double-minded like Isaac. Resist this temptation! When God says to do something, go all in. When Jesus says to follow Him somewhere uncomfortable or risky, don’t try to minimize that risk. Maximize your faith and trust instead. When you commit to the Lord, FULLY COMMIT! #FollowJesus

“He said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.’ And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.” – Genesis 15:9-10

In Hebrew, what we translate as “make a covenant” literally means “cut a covenant”. Solemn covenants were always ratified by the shedding of blood. Life was sacrificed and lifeblood poured out to publicly proclaim, “may the same thing happen to me if I break this covenant”. That’s how serious a biblical covenant is! In Genesis 15, God cut a covenant with Abram to give his descendants the land we know as Israel. The animals were cut in two and God’s presence passed between them – that’s how serious God is about the land of Israel!

If Jesus is your Savior, a different covenant has been cut for you. A covenant of grace – guaranteeing that your sins are forgiven through faith in Jesus, the Son of God. Like every biblical covenant, a life was sacrificed and blood was shed to ratify this New Covenant. However, instead of animals being sacrificed, it was the willing suffering and death of Jesus Himself when He went to the cross for our sins. There is nothing higher by which God could swear than Himself, which is what happened at the cross. There is no covenant more serious than one sealed by the innocent blood of the eternal Son of God.

This is your covenant! The covenant promise that your faith in Jesus has resulted in your sins being forgiven and you being reconciled to God forever as His beloved child. Your covenant was sealed by the innocent, sinless blood of Jesus – fully God and fully human. Realize the beautiful weight of this covenant… If you’re in Christ, then there’s absolutely nothing in heaven or on earth than can break God’s covenant promises. There’s no covenant more ironclad than the New Covenant because it was ratified with the broken body and shed blood of your Risen Savior. God’s grace cannot be thwarted and through faith in Christ, you are the blessed beneficiary of the greatest covenant. #FollowJesus

“Then Job answered the Lord and said:
‘I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.'”
– Job 42:1-2

At the beginning of Job, Job faithfully honored and feared God. Later, amidst his suffering and sorrow, Job vigorously questioned God. By the end, Job KNEW God personally and that made all the difference! He had experienced the presence of God. Heard God speak from the whirlwind. Fallen humble before God’s questions. At last, Job understood what it meant for God to be infinitely greater, wiser, and more powerful than anything he could imagine.

Therefore, Job finally TRUSTED God. He genuinely trusted the power and goodness of God. He knew that God really could do anything and would accomplish His good will and purpose. God can’t be frustrated or foiled in His will. His good will to redeem the earth will be accomplished. His good will to bless His people eternally will be accomplished.

Because Job KNEW and TRUSTED God, he could be patient. He could be at peace. He could cling to the Lord regardless of his pain and lack of understanding. He could follow the Lord in all situations and circumstances. For this, Job was eternally blessed. The good news is that things are much easier for us since Jesus has come in the flesh, died on the cross, risen from the dead, and ascended into Heaven. Because of Jesus, the perfect revelation of God, it’s much easier to know and trust God through knowing and trusting Jesus. And to cling to the Lord and #FollowJesus in every situation and circumstance. For this, you will be eternally blessed!