Knowing Is the Key to Possessing (Pt 2)

Daily Devotion | Day 314

“And the LORD said to Abram [Abraham] . . . ‘Lift your eyes and look from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever . . . Arise, walk in the land through its length and width, for I give it to you’” (Genesis 13:14-15, 17).

Before we get into today’s message, let us recap what we said yesterday. Our Father has bestowed upon us abundant blessings. And He wants us to possess these blessings. To help us possess the blessings, He wants to equip us with knowledge of those blessings, because knowing is the key to possessing. In this process of knowing and possessing, the Holy Spirit plays a vital role. According to the Scriptures, the Father gave His Spirit to us that we might know the things which He has freely given us (1 Corinthians 2:12). Therefore, throughout this series let us keep 1 Corinthians 2:12 in mind. It forms the basis for the things we are discussing. Yesterday, we saw that God gave to Adam and Eve knowledge of the blessings He had bestowed on them. Today, we will look at another example from the Old Testament. It is about God’s dealings with Abraham. From tomorrow we will shift our attention to the New Testament, God willing.

Let us pay attention to the details in today’s opening Scripture. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, had just departed to settle in the land of Sodom (Genesis 13:5-13). Not long after this incident, God spoke to Abraham concerning His plans to bless Him. Recall that He had previously promised to give him the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:7). But in today’s passage He reinforces the promise. Notice how He goes about it. He commands Abraham to perform a set of exercises. The purpose of the exercises was to help Abraham visualize the blessing. God, therefore, asked him to survey the land and become acquainted with its boundaries and its riches.

First, God told Abraham to lift his eyes to the north, south, east and west. And He said to him, “all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” Second, He commanded him, “Arise, walk in the land through its length and width, for I give it to you.” Now observe this: From God’s standpoint the land belonged to Abraham. However, if Abraham was going to possess the land, he first needed to know that the land had been given to him. God asked him to walk through the land to reinforce his knowledge of what he and his descendants were about to possess. Knowing is the key to possessing. This is why God has sent us His Spirit that we might know the things which He has freely given us.

Before you take possession of an inheritance or estate, you need to know the content and extent of the estate that you are about to possess. Our inheritance in Christ is vast and infinite. If you are unaware of what belongs to you, you cannot enjoy it. May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see what belongs to you in Christ Jesus that you might possess and enjoy your blessings. Amen.

To be continued . . .

For further study: Deuteronomy 1:5-8; 11:1-22