There is something to be said about a person that can remain faithful when very little or nothing they are believing God for comes to pass while they are alive.

Abraham was such a person. God called him out of darkness in Ur of the Chaldees to go to a place that He would show him. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Abraham, along with Sarah, Isaac and Jacob never received all that God promised – ouch!

I don’t about you but that causes me to pause, take inventory, and seriously consider why I am living passionately for the Lord, who has promised me a lot of really good things.

Why do we believe God? Please notice I did not say “believe in God!

Why do we follow God?

Why do we obey God when He asks us to do things that are way beyond our ability to comprehend all that He has shown us?

I have asked myself these questions. I have to confess that I have had to face the fact that some of my motivation is selfish. I hated it when I came to realize that a part of why I am paying such a high price for a call that I did not seek was so that I could look good by obeying. I like to get credit for doing good.

Being a word of affirmation needy person I really do want to hear, “Well done My good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.” According to Jesus receiving the joy of the Lord is the reward for faithful service even if it does not always look like you thought it would.

Getting back to Abraham, in Genesis 26 we find a tremendously important reason to keep our charge.

“¹ Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² The LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by ^R734 your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; ⁵ because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My law.””

Abraham’s faith[fulness] guaranteed his descendants would receive all of the promises. I hope you get what I just said. If you have totally surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, believing that He is the Son of the living God [God who came in the flesh], died on a cross to pay for all of your sins, was raised from the dead on the third day after His death, and confess Him to be your Lord and God – then you are one of Abraham’s descendants and a rightful heir to all of God’s promises.

I will not attempt in this blog to outline all of the blessings that are yours by inheritance but here are just a few of them, taken from the life of Isaac [extreme joy and laughter] in Genesis 26 –

• Having encounters with God and receiving His guidance [vss 1-3]
• Receiving personal promises from God [vss 3 ,4]
• Having God tell you why your are going to be blessed [vs 5]
• Protection from stupid decisions [vss 6-11] – It’s better to never make stupid decisions. Isaac made the same mistake Abraham made twice.
• Overcoming extreme economic obstacles [vs 12] – Isaac exercised extreme faith
• Financial abundance in spite of the current economic picture [vs 13]
• The standard bearer in the land [vs 14] – Your success may cause others to be jealous but be successful anyway. You may provoke someone to trust God!!!
• Additional obstacles that must be overcome by faith and hard work [vs 15]
• Recognition that you are powerful and influential [vss 16, 17]
• Restitution of what was stolen [vs 18]
• Discovery of new resources [vss 19-22]
• Success in spite of the opposition [vs 22]
• An end to striving [vs 22]

All of these blessings came to Isaac because of his father’s decision to stay true to God and to God’s call [charge] on his life.

Friend, I don’t know what you are facing today but the decisions you make will have an effect on your descendants and the world around them long after you are gone.

Will the decisions you make today make it easier or more difficult for them to succeed?

Will the decisions you make today set an example of faithfulness or faithlessness?

The choices you make today will have an impact of some kind. Your life is about so much more than you. Your life is about so much more than today. Your life counts for far more than you can see right now.

So please, keep your charge!

For HIS Glory!

Dr. Kevin M. Drury A Hisstorymaker