Daily Devotional

Abram was promised to be Abraham, the Father of Many Nations. But after waiting many years and not seeing anything materialize, Sarai decided, "Okay, so maybe I am barren. But my maid, Hagar, she can bear Abrams children for me." And so Abram agreed to Sarais request.

When man starts playing God, there are consequences. We go back to the Garden of Eden. Why did Eve eat the fruit? Because she wanted to obtain wisdom and, as the serpent said, "be as gods." And there were tragic consequences for their disobedience.

Abram had to bear the consequences for his actions as well. For listening to Sarai, and neglecting to be obedient to God, Ishmael was born. This resulted in calamity between Hagar and Sarai. Later, there was friction between Ishmael and Isaac. And today we are still witnessing the consequences of Abrams disobedience to God in the wars between the Israelites and the Palestinians.

In the book of Judges we read the story of Samson. In Judges 13:5, we see that God had a purpose for Samson before he was even born. But the instruction was clear — drink no wine and do not cut his hair. We go on to read of how Samson ripped a lion apart like a baby goat, killed thirty Philistines out of anger, and then killed a thousand men with a donkeys jawbone. And then he met Delilah, who managed to convince him to tell her his little secret. And eventually, his hair was cut, and his eyes ripped out because of that act of disobedience.

I cannot stress how important it is that you listen to the voice of the Lord. If you believe in JESUS, you serve a God that is alive, that has a mouth that speaks to His children. Be obedient to that voice of God, and you will walk into a life of abundance.