Genesis 17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.”

God’s covenants with man are lopsided by the very nature of them, because God is infinite and man is finite, but that doesn’t mean man is strictly on the receiving end. God specifically chose something that would never be done casually, circumcision, as a responsibility of man in His covenant with Abram, now Abraham. Incidentally, the name change, though very important, did not carry the same weight of commitment. As it turns out, circumcision carries a number of health advantages, though it is not without risks, but Abraham didn’t know that. It is no coincidence that it was only after Abraham was circumcised that he was able to father Isaac. He had to actively commit his reproductive member to God before that member could be used to fulfill God’s promise to him. When God is the Creator of everything, the only things we can give Him are obedience and love, so those are what He asks for. Sadly, we have many “entitlement Christians” (if I may coin a term) who somehow think God’s obligated to pour blessing out on them without their doing anything in response. Following God sometimes requires some hard choices, but as Abraham found, the results are always worth it.

My own circumcision was before I was old enough to have anything to say about it, but that’s not to say I haven’t been presented with some real decisions to be made. I wish I could say I’ve always made the right decision! As a pastor, I’m to encourage people to make right decisions and commitments, but I can’t make those for them. I just had a phone call from someone at the mental hospital who is happy for me to pray blessings for him, but he is uncomfortable with anything that requires something of him in return. That is, he doesn’t want to change, he just wants to be blessed. He may be a patient in a mental hospital, but he’s got a lot of company outside the hospital! I am to be faithful to speak the truth in love at all times, not drawing back for fear someone might not like me because of it. I am not to offend needlessly, but I am to make it clear that faith and obedience to God are choices each individual must make. That’s not legalism, it’s simply how things are. God’s grace is far greater than our sin, but we must choose to receive it.

Father, I deal with people all the time for whom I would like to make some decisions, but I can’t do it. Help me be at peace with that, and release them to You and Your Spirit. Help me be fully available to You in drawing them to right decisions, without thinking or feeling that it’s up to me. May I be an accurate channel of Your love and grace, neither condemning nor excusing, so that many may be drawn into right relationship with You, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!