Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Jan 8th, 2024 The Blessing of the Lord

Today’s Passage – Genesis 23 – 24 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 15 – 16; Proverbs 8; Psalms 36 – 40)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 34:6

Read the “0108 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Read previous posts from this passage – “Taker or Giver?,” “Praying for Clear Direction,” and “The Bride of Christ”

“1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.” (Genesis 24:1)

“22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22)

Once again, I am having a hard time deciding what to write about from these rich chapters from Genesis. As I read through these two chapters in the Bible reading schedule this morning, I considered quite a few ideas that could have been developed for today’s devotion. Some of these thoughts I have already considered in previous posts (see above links), and others I need to give some more consideration to before I write about them. These chapters in Genesis are full of great pictures of Christ as well as many wonderful foundational truths, and it benefits all of us to slow down and carefully read each verse.

My thought from the passage surrounds Genesis 24:1. “the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.” What a privilege it is to have God’s abundant riches and blessings bestowed upon our lives. To some degree, all of us on this earth are recipients of blessing of God. We all eat the food that God provides and we all drink His water. Most of us, especially here in America, live very comfortable lives and enjoy the many good things that God provides. However, the blessings referred to here in this passage go beyond what most people in the world experience. Abraham had God’s abundant provision, protection, and guidance throughout his life; much more so than others.

In today’s reading, in chapter 23, we see that Abraham needed a burying place for his wife Sarah. He wanted to acquire a small piece of land in Hebron that would be a cemetery of sorts so that he could bury his wife at that time, but could also be used as a burying place for future generations. Not only did God grant favor for Abraham in the eyes of Ephron, the Hittite owner of the land, but Ephron even offered to give it Abraham for free, which Abraham refused. I am reminded of a similar situation in 2 Samuel 24 where David was purchasing the threshing floor of Arunah the Jebusite, which would eventually become the place where Israel’s Temple would be placed. Arunah was willing to give David the piece of ground for free, along with the wood and oxen needed for a burnt offering, but David insisted on paying for it. The point is that these non-Israelite men (Ephron and Arenas) were willing to give property of great value to Abraham and David because they recognized God’s grace upon them.

This is quite a contrast to what we often see today. Too many people, and unfortunately, many preachers, are often always asking and trying to get people to give them stuff. I have had more than one preacher ask me to “pray about” some need that they had. I may be a little bit cynical, but I could not help but wonder if their “prayer request” was really just their attempt to get me (or our church) to buy it for them. Abraham and David were both so blessed by God that they didn’t need a handout and also insisted that they pay themselves for what they wanted or needed, and would not allow the former owners to give it for free.

Another thought that crossed my mind as I was considering this topic is this: why were Abraham, David and others like them so blessed of God? There is no doubt in my mind that they were blessed for two reasons: First, they were men of great faith; they believed God:

“6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Galatians 3:6)

Secondly, their faith was evidenced by the fact that they obeyed God. Of course, neither Abraham nor David were perfect, in the sense that they never disobeyed the Lord, but their lives were characterized by the fact that they both desired to live for the Lord and please him. Most of the time they got it right, and as a result, God blessed them abundantly.

I want to have that kind of blessing upon my life, upon my family, and also upon my ministry. Notice again the verse from Proverbs:

“22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22)

Often, when we try to force or finagle good things to happen in our lives, there will be guilt associated with it. But when God is blessing us and making us rich, there is no guilt. And by the way, this is not just talking about monetary blessings or possessions. God is good to us and blesses us in so many ways. I remember once having dinner with a preacher friend, and he said something to me that at first surprised me. He said: “Brother Erickson, you are one of the richest men I know.” At first, I thought he was crazy because I certainly was not “rich” in possessions. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that he was right. God has been very good to me. I have always had every need provided for me; I have a wonderful wife and family; good friends who would take a bullet for me; and a great church family to serve with. God is good!