12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.[a] 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”[b] 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.
My husband, Alan, and I had the amazing privilege to go to Israel in March. Little did we know that when we left our ‘normal’ world, we would return to a new world that has now gone on for most of 2020. While we were there, we got to experience this land that God gave to Abraham.
Abraham did not have to work for the land or even pay for it. It was simply given to him by entering into it. We can be reminded that the salvation that Jesus brought to us when He came to earth, is also a gift to be received, not worked for or earned.
Abraham was also told that in him, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Because he believedGod, in time his son Isaac would be the one through whom the Messiah would also enter into the land to live, and then to pay the price for our sins.
As I traveled through the land, my heart was so full as I experienced the promise made to Abraham, that I too was blessed through him. Advent is a perfect time to be reminded that we each have this promise and so many more.
