Today we will see what made him do that. The text is taken from Genesis 35:1-7
Theme: Have you kept you promise?
We begin our study today with a reading of Genesis 35:1-7 where we find God telling Jacob to go to Bethel in which he is to build an altar. Why did God command this?
Nearly thirty years earlier, Jacob had made a promise but he seems to have forgotten about it, and God is now calling him to fulfill it
In the previous devotion we have seen Jacob having a dream which is commonly called as Jacob’s ladder. In this dream, God promises to be with him and safely return him to his home
This dream prompted Jacob to make his vow – Genesis 28:16-22, to make the LORD his God if God carries out His promise and also to give God a tenth of all that God will give him.
For the next 20 years, Jacob dwelt in Haran. As God promised, he was with Jacob and he prospered both in family, wealth and health. (Genesis29-30). Upon Jacob’s return, God kept him safe from Laban who was pursuing him. (Genesis 21) and also from Esau, who was coming to meet him (Genesis32-33).
By the time we come to our text Genesis 35, Jacob had been living in Canaan where he settled near the city of Shechem. But he had not bothered to go back to Bethel, where the Lord had appeared to him and where he had made his vow.
So it appears that Jacob had forgotten his vow/promise, for this reason God commands him to return to Bethel Genesis 35:1
So dear brother and sister what we can learn from this devotion today, I know some of you have already got my mind as where I will be leading ya’ll
Let me give you 7 principles form this text.
1. God expects us to keep the vows we make. He does not take vows lightly and neither should we. Read Ecclesiastes 5:2-5. So let’s be sure to keep any vow or promise that we make with God for example the vow we made when we became Christians i.e. to turn from sin and to follow Christ with all our heart. Are you faithful in keeping that vow? When you got married you took a vow to take care of our husband/wife in everything, can you recall the vows you made to each other. Are you keeping up your vows with each other? You might say brother things are not the same now, but let me tell you things might have changed but God hasn’t.
2. We tend to forget our vows when God has fulfilled his side of them. We have seen in the above passages that God fulfilled His side, but Jacob had not. This forgetfulness seems to occur in our lives when vows are made in times of trouble. Like in extreme difficult situations, marital problems, Health problems, financial problems, relational problems. Can you recollect those situations when you asked God to rescue you and he kept His side of the promise, what about you. Did you keep up yours?
3. We forget to keep our promises when things are going well. In case of Jacob he had a nice family became extremely wealthy settled in his home country. The same is so true of each one of us. You begged God when you were in trouble and made a vow/promise that when he redeems you for your situation you would be faithful to Him, pray and read the word consistently, tithe regularly, share the gospel, go on a missions trip and serve the Lord, bless missionaries, be in peace and unity with your siblings and relatives or even be a regular attendee at the church. Are you keeping up your vow/promise?
Dear beloved you might be enjoying the blessing but you have forgotten the blesser and the vows/ promises you made to him. But consider God’s warning to Israel against forgetfulness after they entered the Promised Land read Deuteronomy 8:11-20
So let me encourage you today to think back and recollect the promises and vows you made to God regarding your spiritual life, money, health, wife, husband and relationships in your life.
Tomorrow we will study the remaining 4 principles, till then keep praying and ask the Holy Spirit God to help you recollect the promises and vows you made to God Almighty.
In His service
John Spurgeon
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