In our attempt to fulfil our daily chores and responsibilities, we may be forced to often ignore our time with God. But our God is more interested in our relationship and fellowship with Him than what we do for Him. Our thought for reflection this Monday morning is, “Our God is keen to have an intimate relationship with us”.
“The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day”
(Genesis 18:1)
Life has become too busy and crowded with activities that we never feel like we have enough time to accomplish everything we want to or need to do. But the clock keeps ticking faster than ever before. Often we behalf like robots, rapidly moving from one task to another. And at the end of the day we feel overworked, overstressed and spiritually undernourished. The passage in Genesis 18:1-15, describes the visit of God to Abraham’s tent and His important conversation with him.
1. Abraham responded by attempting to connect with the Lord.
There has been no mention of God walking on earth since His appearance in the “garden of Eden”. Thus His encounter here with Abraham is unique and has a divine purpose. Genesis 18:1 says, “The Lord appeared to Abraham…”. That speaks volumes of our God’s desire to strengthen His relationship with Abraham and in a wider scale with all human beings. It is interesting to note how Abraham responded to God’s visitation. The Bible describes Abraham’s response in this way:
“When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground…”
(Genesis 18:2).
Twice in Genesis 18, Abraham ran or hurried: he hurried to meet the men (v 2) and he hurried to the herd to obtain a calf to provide the men a sumptuous meal (v 7). How desperate are we to connect with God every day especially at the beginning of the day to speak to Him through prayer and hear Him speak to us through His Word?
2. Abraham responded by attempting to commune with the Lord.
The Bible says that Abraham pleaded with the visitors to have fellowship with him:
“If I have found favour in your eyes, my Lord, do not pass your servant by”
(Genesis 18:3).
The very fact that Abraham addressed one of his visitors as “my Lord” suggests that Abraham recognized their visit as divine manifestation. Abraham’s eagerness to encounter and experience God is revealed here. He desired God to remain with him and so he said, “Please do not pass your servant by”. Is our prayer this morning that God’s favour should be upon us and that He should not pass by us without blessing us?
In order to be successful in all our jobs and responsibilities this day and throughout this week we need to first begin everyday of this week with a fruitful time of fellowship and communion with God. Let’s determine to begin every day of this week by connecting and communing with God through prayer and reading His Word. Isaiah 55:6 says,
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on Him while He is near.”
When we seek His face every morning through prayer and reading of His Word, He will guide us throughout this day and throughout this week. Shall we decide to have a personal and intimate relationship with our God?
Have a blessed day and a fruitful week!