‘Ephraim has surrounded me with lies, Israel with deceit. And Judah is unruly against God, even against the faithful Holy One’. (Hosea 11:12)
Everything about God is faithfulness. He is a faithful God calling his children into a faithful walk. This reciprocal relationship influence how He measures our relationship with him. He evaluates our walk with him based on our faithfulness just as He also encircles us with His faithfulness.
Now, men may entirely measure their relationship with God based on how successful they have become (even though material success is inclusive of our walk with God), but the defining factor of success with God is not what we have gained but how faithful we have become in our walk with Him. Character is more important to God than financial or material success.
While men focus on the short-term, God is always interested in the long-term goal. Though God richly blessed Abraham with material success but a careful look at his relationship with God reveals God’s special attention to his character development which would earn Abraham an eternal fame.
God’s call upon Abraham was huge: he would not only be a biological progenitor of great nations who would demonstrate God’s holiness and faithfulness to a sinful world, he would also be the spiritual father of all who belief in Jesus (John 8:39-40 see also Romans 4:13-25).
Through God’s blessing, Abraham became a multi-millionaire by all standard in his time, however the cornerstone of God’s call upon his life transcended material success. It was based on faith and God’s faithfulness.
In Genesis 17:1, we see the nature of God’s call upon Abraham:
‘When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless’. Plainly, God instructed Abram to walk in His presence and to be of such good character before Him that no accusation of wrongdoing could be brought against him. This was the pre-condition for his massive spiritual and material success.
But what do we see nowadays in our walk with God? We see many believers opting out of the school of character development and faithfulness which is the core curriculum in the school of God, only with eyes on the material reward God offers.
Therefore, many are unable to walk faithfully with God while operating outside His symbiotic covenant of faithfulness having been deceitfully taught that material success solely validates God’s approval upon their lives.
They forget that even as Abraham became rich in the process of character building, God was far from done with him, because the ultimate call of God upon his life was to demonstrate a faithful walk with a faithful God before pagan nations-this was a call that would also fall upon the children of Israel and all believers.
Why do men prefer to opt out of the school of character development preferring instant material rewards in the school of God? This is simply because character development is painstakingly slow, and we are in a ‘fast-food” generation who want instant gratification. We all invoke the blessings of Abraham but would rather not have the process of character formation that took place in his life.
Secondly, men opt out of this school of character development because the god of this world, Satan, continually blinds men with temporal gains, shutting their eyes away from the long-term perspective of God in their lives.
Before Abraham could be modelled as an example of faith for all believers God had to refine him. He did not set out in his relationship with God as a perfect man. No, he was far from perfect. Abraham was deceptive and self-centered. Two times he had to deny Sarah his wife lying that she was his sister and was willing to give her up to save his life.
By agreeing with Sarah to have Haggar be a ‘surrogate mother’ of the promised child, Abraham exhibited a lack of trust in God’s promise to give him a son through Sarah, and easily walked into something that was not God’s will by helping himself out. The result was devastating and is lasting even now.
The conflict in the Middle East can all be traced back to this mistake.
The good thing was that God did not give up on Abraham neither did Abraham give up on God because Abraham came to understand that he was in a symbiotic relationship of faithfulness with a God who will not fail to bring to pass all He had promised.
At the height of his character formation, he was willing to sacrifice Isaac, the most precious gift in his life.
But as soon as he reached this crescendo of faith God’s faithfulness gushed out on Abraham like water from an overflowing dam lifting him to heights of a prophetic blessing unknown to men:
“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 [2] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:16-18).
Beloved, God wants to take us far in a walk of faithfulness with him beyond our place of material comfort and understanding. But this walk of faithfulness would not come cheap even as the reward isn’t cheap either.
God’s call into faithfulness may take several forms but one thing is clear it will take us outside our comfort zone. No solid character is shaped in a comfort zone but in a growth zone and growth is often uncomfortable.
Are you ready to enter a symbiotic relationship of faithfulness with God? Are you ready to make sacrifices that would trigger God’s faithful blessings in the higher realm bigger than the temporal blessings the material gods of this world offer?
Are you willing to start this symbiotic partnership with God by putting your complete faith in Him?
Beloved, God’s best for us transcends what we can ever imagine- the riches of his faithfulness cannot be matched by any temporal blessing and honor. It is time to step away from our lies and deceits and step into a faithful walk with the Faithful God. (Hosea 11:12).
Reading
Genesis 22:1-18
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