Your Shield and Great Reward

“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.’ But Abram said, ‘Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ Then Abram said, ‘Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!’ And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ‘This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.’ Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Then He said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.’” [1]

The Lord graciously reached out to Abram. Gave him a vision! Urged him not to be afraid! Reminded him that He was his shield and his exceedingly great reward!

When Abram expressed disappointment to the Lord in regards to the status of his legacy, the Lord gave Abram an object lesson. The objects were the numerous stars in the sky. He told Abram that his legacy would include descendants as numerous as the stars that he could count. Abram believed in the Lord. The Lord also promised to give Abram land.

This passage is especially meaningful to me because the Lord gave me a similar promise the day that I placed my life in His hands to trust in Him. The dialogue between Jesus and I went like this… Jesus: “Don’t do that [destroy your life], give your life to Me, and I will use it to touch many people.” Me: “Lord, I have only messed this life up, if You can do anything with it, it’s Yours.” Jesus Christ saved me from my sin and gave me His Holy Spirit.

My testimony is to love God and love His Word, or as John puts it in the Book of Revelation, to live for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. [2]

Jesus our Messiah does miracles in our lives as we simply love Him and proclaim His Word. He helps us as we trust in Him to touch the lives of many people, AND He does give us an inheritance. Even life with Him forevermore!

[1] Genesis 15:1-7
[2] See Revelation 1:2, 9; 6:9; 12:17; 19:10