By Allen White
Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my
covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This
is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to
keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo
circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.”
On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those
born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household,
and circumcised them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when
he was circumcised, Genesis 17:9-11, 23-24
I’m not going to spend this devotional examining the
particulars of circumcision. But, you have to ask, “Why circumcision? Why not a
tattoo, or a shaved head, or a secret handshake?” What we can say about
circumcision is that it is personal and painful. While this sign of the
covenant doesn’t carry over to the new covenant (Romans
2:27-29), we can all relate to the aspects of our relationship with God
that are both personal and at times painful.
When we think about something as massive as God’s covenant
with His people, it can seem well beyond us. Either we choose to be part of
that covenant or we don’t. Take it or leave it, right? It’s a great deal, but
we’re free to pursue other deals if we choose. But, God doesn’t merely relate
to a mass of people.
God relates to individuals. God wants a relationship with
you and me, and He will ruthlessly pursue us. God is interested in you and me.
God wants to be personal with each of us. He doesn’t just want us to know about
Him, He wants us to know Him. He wants to hear our prayers, and He wants us to
listen to Him. He wants us to serve, and He wants us to stop to be with Him.
God is far more interested in us than anything that we could ever do for Him.
As St. Augustine said, “God thirsts to be thirsted after.”
At times our relationship with God is painful. The pain is
not necessarily punishment for sin. It’s painful to watch as the things we
depend on are stripped away to the point that we only depend on God. Sometimes
it’s painful to forsake short-term pleasure for long-term character
development. It’s painful to release our control and realize that we were never
really in control in the first place. It’s painful to surrender our right to be
the master and creator of our universe. That’s God’s job too.
What is the tug of war between you and God these days? What
are you fighting to hold on to? What would happen if you let go? I’m not asking
you to abandon the struggle. I encourage you to work it all of the way through.
Don’t put it on the back burner. Figure out what’s going on. Then, take the
next step.
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