Encountering an extraordinary God in ordinary life
Issue # 268 September 22, 2001
Faithful Promise

There is a lake across the street from my home. Well, calling it a lake does it great service, because it is man-made and not very large, however, it is a body of water and it is nice.

From our living room window, I can watch the flocks of Canada geese take off and come in for a landing. Watching them last night made me think of a trip to a bird sanctuary a few years ago.

About 20 minutes drive away is the Beaverhill Lake Bird Sanctuary. Because of the incredible numbers of geese who stop there in the spring, it draws birders from all over the world.

Two friends, their daughter and I drove out to see the geese. The sky from the south was full of them. They kept coming, flock after flock, in waves as far as the eye could see.

Canada geese, snow geese, Ross’s geese with the odd flock of ducks flying in. It was impossible to count them. Flocks of 50, 100 and more covered the sky. They just seemed to be everywhere. They were truly beyond number.

God made a promise to Abraham

The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me. Genesis 22:15-18 NIV

He was faithful to that promise. It applied not only to the physical descendants of Abraham, but to Christ, and through Christ to Abraham’s spiritual descendants.

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. Galatians 3:16-18 NIV

There are over 2 Billion people who profess some form of Christianity in the world today. How many are truly Christian, only God knows, but the numbers would be beyond Abraham’s comprehension.

God is faithful to His promises. He promises to forgive, to heal, to reconcile and more. We can trust Him to do so.

Until next time, know that the promises made to you by God through His Word are real.

God bless.

Kevin