A Promise

“Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions- to the west and east, to the north and south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.”

Genesis 28: 14

As I thought about verse 14, I was struck by the magnitude of its promise- that all families of the earth will be blessed through Jacob. I remember a particular funeral, and one of the things I said about the dear man who had passed away was this, “He left the earth a better place than he found it”. I suppose if we had to boil everything down about a person’s life, and we could say that about them, then we could say it was a life well lived.

If we simply take the approach that we will work to make the earth a better place than we found it, that means that we have contributed something positive- given more than we have taken. In such a way, we can say that we have blessed other families of the earth. Further, if we rear children in the way that they should be taught and nurtured, they will leave a legacy of the same, making the earth a better place than they found it.

We know that the only solution to the problems of this world is a spiritual one, that is, dependence upon the loving God who created us in His image. If we live a life of simple dependence on God’s provision, and tell others of His love, we have “blessed all the families of the earth.”

Prayer: Father, help me live a life that is pleasing to you, for that is our calling. Thank you for the incredible opportunity that you lay before us to influence others in your direction, Amen.