Day 2: Abraham's Part of the Covenant (Genesis 17)
At the age of 99, God Almighty, El Shaddai, speaks again to his servant Abram, calling him to “walk before Me, and be blameless.” God reminded him again of the blessings that would come and even changed his name to Abraham (from “exalted father” to “the father of a multitude.”) All the blessings that would come from God’s covenant with Abraham were God’s part of the covenant. But Abraham wasn’t off the hook. God clearly told him his part in the covenant, “This is My covenant, which YOU SHALL KEEP, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.”
I can’t even begin to imagine Abraham’s initial response to such a command! Can you? Yet, he immediately went out from God’s presence and obeyed what the Lord had commanded. Maybe it was the terms of the consequences of disobedience that catapulted Abraham to such obedient action. God had precisely told him that any who refused to comply with the covenant agreement would be cut off from his people. Disobedience would be evidence of a broken covenant, and God takes covenant very seriously!
Abraham understood his relationship with God. He knew his responsibility was to keep his end of the covenant in order to stay in covenant relationship. It is clear that God has a part for us to do as well. While Abraham’s part was to circumcise the flesh of the foreskin of every male, our part is to allow God to circumcise the foreskin of our hearts. God wants to weed out every sin that still lies in our hearts, every wrong motive, every wicked word of our tongue, with the goal being Christ-likeness. Our circumcised hearts are a sign to God that we are living obedient, surrendered lives. This is our part of the covenant.
Another way to look at the circumcision of our hearts is to return to God’s words to Abraham: “Walk before Me, and be blameless.” These words He still loudly speaks to us today. God is calling us to personal holiness (“Be holy, for I am holy”), to sanctification. This includes walking in the Spirit, growing into mature Christians, dying to our fleshly disobedience, and living a life of integrity. Are you as willing to obey God’s command as Abraham was? Are you today? Consider your answer, and talk to God about it. Remember, God takes covenant seriously. So should we!
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