I Give You Me

"After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Genesis 15:1-6

In the fifteenth chapter of Genesis we find Abram (prior to God changing his name to Abraham, Genesis 17:5) receiving the word of God. After putting Abram at ease by telling him not to fear, God speaks these word to Abram, "I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." (Genesis 15:1) How awesome and mind blowing is that? The one and only true and living God, whose majesty is described in this manner: "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 4:8-11) That God just told Abram I am your shield and your exceeding great reward. Can you imagine that same God making the same statement to you? You can't? What if I told you He already did? Remember Paul's letter to the Philippians? This is what he wrote about Jesus, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:6-8) Jesus, who is one with the Father, shielded us from death by dying for us and became our reward through His Resurrection by giving us everlasting life. Yet like Abram sometimes we fail to grasp the sufficiency of the gift we have received and only focus on what we feel we don't have. As a result we would all be wise to meditate on the words of our Savior, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:19-21