Verse of the Day 6/16

Verse of the Day 6/16

Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,     English Standard Version (ESV)

We have all heard the phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks", usually as an excuse for someone not being willing to try something new, to change direction, the course of their life after a certain age.  Some of us are approaching or possibly already in retirement and our attitude can easily become "I've done my time, let someone else do it."  Abraham had followed God for a good long life, but at 95 there was still plenty of time and room for  a change.  There was still time for God to change the course of his life, a change that brought new promise, new life that is still impacting the world to this day.

A. W. Tozer writes,"Do not miss the application of truth here. God was saying to Abraham, "You may have some other idea about the design and purpose for your life, but you are wrong! You were created in My image to worship Me and to glorify Me. If you do not honor this purpose, your life will degenerate into shallow, selfish, humanistic pursuits. "Men Who Met God, 23.

Are you still willing to make  a change  if God calls you to it?  Or have you settled into your goal of collecting sea shells on the sea shore or any other kind of "stuff" that Tozer describes as shallow, selfish, humanistic pursuits?  The key phrase here at the end of the verse is "walk before me,and be blameless".  God is with you right behind you or right beside you, He will show you that there are still great things that can be accomplished in your life, perhaps things like in Abraham's case, were beyond human possibility.  Part of that "walking before Him" is pointing others towards the purpose for which God has created them.

I like the paraphrase of verse 2 in The Message, ""I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family."    No matter what age  or season in life we find ourselves, may we "live to the hilt" for God.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Genesis 17:1-8The Message (MSG)

17 ^1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family."

^3-8 Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face.

Then God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: You'll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that 'I'm making you the father of many nations.' I'll make you a father of fathers—I'll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I'm giving you and your descendants this land where you're now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I'll be their God."