Monday, June 28, 1999
Monday, June 28, 1999
I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
The only place you ever hear of older couples having babies is on the covers of those super
market papers. A few years ago there was an elderly lady--nearly 100 years old who sued one of
the tabloids which printed her picture and suggested she was pregnant. Needless to say, she was
not. Before God spoke to Abraham, Abraham and Sarah had long since given up on having
children. But Abraham believed God's impossible promise, and in time the impossible became a
reality. Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety-nine when she gave birth to
their son, Isaac. Our faith in God must be a simple trust.
Ronald Newhouse, Texas, USA
(Genesis 12:2
NRSV)
In his first encounter with God, God promises Abraham, "I will make of you a great nation, and I
will bless you, and make your name great." No wonder Abraham was willing to pick up and
move. What a promise--Abraham would be famous. But not only that, he would have as many
descendants as there are stars in the sky. Now this was a little sticky. After all, Abraham and
Sarah were well past child-bearing age. Paul writes of Abraham, "He did not weaken in faith
when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead." Abraham had every
reason to doubt God's promise.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, may I work to develop a simple faith and a simple trust in God.
Amen.
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