DAY 96 - BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE PROMISE
This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you,...every male among you shall be circumcised.
Genesis 17: 10
Reading: Genesis 17:1-14, Romans 2:25-29.
For most who read about the Promises in the book of Genesis the idea of God instituting circumcision to seal His covenant seems distant and even irrelevant. Some have tried to make it more relevant by saying it has now been replaced by infant baptism. To believe this is to really miss the powerful significance of why God instituted circumcision for Abram.
Notice that God instituted this practice straight after Abram and Sarai disobeyed God and produced Ishmael through Hagar. After this foolish act [Genesis 16] God came again to Abram and Sarai and renewed His covenant with them. Only this time He adds that every male must be circumcised to remind them that they are in a covenant. Of course circumcision is of no value to remind you that you are in covenant with God if your parents, who are in a true heart covenant with God, do not teach you as a child, male or female, what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart.
Circumcision was designed as an act of faith and commitment. It was not a ritual that made people righteous before God. If you have not experienced the circumcision of the heart, by faith, through the power of the Holy Spirit, no amount of outward ritual will give you right standing before God. Circumcision, baptism, communion are useless as reminders unless you have received Christ by faith through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Holy Spirit I want to thank You for the miracle of circumcision in my heart. I thank You that this work, which only You can do, separates me day by day to walk with You.
FOR THE FAMILY
Engage
There are numerous ways to include your children, by faith, into the covenant of God. Most Christians express their faith by having their children dedicated in front of the church. If you have done that, spend time chatting to the children about that special day and what it meant to the family and your church family.