Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

April 22
Wednesday


TOO OLD?

READ:
Genesis 17:15-22
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My covenant is with
you, and you shall be a
father of many nations.
__Genesis 17:4
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When God promised Abraham and his wife Sarah that they would have a son, Abraham laughed in unbelief and replied, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" (Gen. 17:17).

Later, Sarah laughed for the same reason: "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" (18:12).

We too grow old and wonder if the Lord can fulfill His promises to us. We no longer have prominence or status. Our minds are not as nimble as they once were. We're hampered by physical problems that limit our mobility and keep us close to home. Every day we seem to lose more of the things we have spent a lifetime acquiring. Robert Frost underscores something that we sometimes ask ourselves: "The question... is what to make of a diminished thing."

Not much-- if we are left to ourselves. But God is able to do more with us than we can imagine. He asks us, as He asked Sarah, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" (18:14). of course not!

We're never too old to be useful if we make ourselves available to God for His purposes. __David Roper
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`````````````````````Growing old but not retiring,`````````````````
``````````````````````For the battle still is on;```````````````````
````````````````````Going on without relenting```````````````````
````````````````Till the final victory's won. __Anon.```````````````
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As God adds years to your life,
ask Him to add life to your years.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Genesis 17:15-22**********

15 Then God said to
Abraham, "As for Sarai your
wife, you shall not call her
name Sarai, but Sarah shall
be her name. 16 And I will
bless her and also give you a
son by her; then I will bless
her, and she shall be a
mother of nations; kings of
peoples shall be from her."

17 Then Abraham fell on
his face and laughed, and
said in his heart, "Shall a
child be born to a man who
is one hundred years old?
And shall Sarah, who is
ninety years old, bear a
child?" 18 "Oh, that Ishmael
might live before You!"

19 Then God said: "No,
Sarah your wife shall bear
you a son, and you shall call
his name Isaac; I will
establish My covenant with
him for an everlasting
covenant, and with his
descendants after him.

20 And as for Ishmael, I have
heard you. Behold, I have
blessed him, and will make
him fruitful, and will
multiply him exceedingly.
He shall beget twelve
princes, and I will make him
a great nation. 21 But My
covenant I will establish
with Isaac, whom Sarah
shall bear to you at this set
time next year." 22 Then He
finished talking with him,
and God went up from
Abraham.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Some 13 years earlier than the Genesis 17 event, God had promised
that Abraham would be the father of a great nation (12:2). Once
it became biologically impossible for Abraham or his wife to have
children (17:17), God enlarged this promise--that He would make
Abraham the father of many nations (vv.4-5). To assure Abraham,
God revealed Himself as El Shaddai, Almighty God--the all-
sufficient God who can do anything (v.1). __Sim Kay Tee