Recognizing Lordship
I continue to lay the groundwork for my run for City Council in Fort Collins. This has been an Atlanta “snow day.” Here it snows ice (so it seems). The two inches here competes for a record and allows local residents to enjoy the unique weather as activities and businesses are canceled.
The grand kids with some friends from the neighborhood, enjoyed sliding down the long steep driveway of Nathan and Stephanie’s home. Nathan took his four-wheeler and had an outing with some friends in nearby fields. Stephanie shared that church services have been canceled for tomorrow.
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…. “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” Genesis 28:20-22 ESV
Jacob had bought the rights of the firstborn from Esau for a bowl of stew. He had deceived his father, with the help of his mother, to rob the blessing of the firstborn. But now he faced a situation that he could not control and did not have assurance of what would take place.
As he journeys back to his mother’s family, he finds himself alone, afraid and uncertain of what would happen. He has a powerful vision and encounter with “the God of Abraham and Isaac.” Soon Jacob realized that the he needed to know this God of his father.
He makes a “bargain” with the Lord. If God will go with him, provide for him and allow him to return to his father’s house, he would embrace the God of his father, as his God.
We see that in the course of time the Lord reveals His purpose and plan for Jacob. Jacob one day returns. Not just having been provided for and protected. He returns with two wives, 12 sons and rich with livestock and possessions.
As a result of God’s faithfulness, we see the God of Abraham and Isaac becoming the “God of Jacob.” In the future, and for ages to come, this “Lord God” would be known as the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
As part of Jacob’s commitment he promises to give a tithe of all that he possessed. This pledge is one of the oldest demonstrations of lordship in the Bible. The one before this was with Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek.” “Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him….And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” (Genesis 14:18-20 ESV)
Before the law, the concept of the “tithe” is observed in scripture as not just recognizing s source of blessing, but in recognizing authority, rule and lordship. So, when we tithe, it is a declaration of not just the blessing of the Lord and recognizing Him as our “source” but it is also a demonstration that the “Lord is our God.”
Prayer for today… Lord, the most important commitment we can make is to know and declare You as “our God.” Allow that relationship of trust and faith be demonstrated by our words and actions, as we recognize Your provision and lordship.