"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:1-3).
Before God will bless you in the abundance that He sets forth, He must first put you in a place or position to receive the blessing. I am not speaking of self-attainment nor the daily blessings that we receive. I am speaking of exceptional blessings.
The Lord told Abram to leave his country, his people, his family and friends, and go to a land that He would show him. The Lord was about to do a new thing in the life of Abram, but to receive this blessing, Abram who knew not God, but God knew him, needed him to trust Him. God commanded a step of faith from Abram. Abram must "trust and obey" God.
Abram had to move to a far away place without the love and security he had at home. If Abram was to receive the blessings that the Lord had for him, He had to separate himself from the pagan idolatry that was known to that land and go to the land which God would show him. If Abram would step out on faith, God had made some iron-clad promises to him and God will never break a promise.
As long as Abram puts his trust in the Lord, "The I Will God" would supply all his needs. Abram responded in faith that was illustrated through his obedience by leaving all.
Let's look at the promises God made to Abraham.
"I will make of thee a great nation." From the loin of Abraham would come a great nation, a people too numerous to keep a count of. God changed Abram's name to match his destiny. The man called Abram will now take on the famous name of Abraham, "Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations" (Genesis 17:5). This new name means "father of a multitude," matching God's revelation of what Abram would become.
"I will bless thee and make thy name great." The blessing upon the righteous is beyond the comprehension of man. The blessing that will fall on Abraham will also be passed on to his progeny, friends, and others. Our walk with God should not be a blessing thought of as solely for us, our walk should be so that others who are in our space would also receive blessings. I would not be where I am today had not other Christians had sown some of their blessings into my life.
"I will make your name great." What an awesome promise. Today, Abraham is referred to as the Father of the righteousness. Hebrews 11:8 says, "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."
"I will bless them that bless you." This is a mighty statement. When the child of God is blessed by others, means, when you do a good thing for someone or to someone, God will bless you. This is a reciprocal blessing. Yet there are people who could help others, but refuse to. Like the man in the New Testament who had an overflow of crops and his barns weren't big enough for the harvest, but rather than share with the community, he decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. As he was thinking to himself, God showed up and told him that "tonight he was going to die" (Luke 12:16-21). If you get nothing else out of this, make it your goal in life to share your blessing and resources with others.
"And the one who curses you I will curse." Many times the child of God will spend too much time trying to get back at those that came against them. God knows who your enemies are. Be still and let the Lord fight your battles. "No weapon form against thee shall prosper." Whenever the wicked comes at you, they can't get to you unless God allows it. Many times the Lord allow the worker of iniquity to come against us to see if we are true and faithful Christians. The tests of time, are to make us stronger not weaker.
"All peoples on earth will be blessed through you." God will bless all the families of the earth through Abraham. This is a "worldwide blessing." How? This promise made to Abraham begins God's plan of salvation. It began to prepare God's people for salvation. It points the way forward to which Jesus, the Son of God will bless the world with salvation from sin, won by His sacrifice on the Cross, His Resurrection from the dead, and His Ascension into Heaven.
We serve a never changing God. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God will never forgot His promises to Abraham nor will He forget His promises to us. God is still requesting that we believe in Him and we should respond in obedience and faith, because God will always fulfill His promises. What promises? There are thousands of promises already given to us by God in Scripture. God is always faithful. He is simply saying to us, "I Will" to you today and everyday, if we will just listen to Him through His Word and be obedient, trusting in His promises. How more enriching our lives can be if we believe and obey "The I Will God!"
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