Living Blessed

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

LIVING BLESSED

Gen 25:1-11

25:1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. 5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. 7 Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10 the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

NIV

That is a rip old age, one hundred and seventy years, and he had many more sons who became the fathers of other people groups, although it would seem those sons did not count in the promise of God that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars or the grains of sand on the beach. All those would come through his son Isaac, his only son whom he had with his wife Sarah in their old age. Interestingly, when Abraham breathed his last and it was time to bury him, Ishmael showed up. Both he and Isaac were together to pay the respect due to their father, taking his body to the same place he brought from the Hittites and putting him next to the body of Sarah. Now it was time for Isaac's life to fully begin as he was now the sole heir of all his father’s estate, everything that was owned by Abraham and all the manservants and maidservants, were all now Isaac’s which meant he was a very wealthy man, and God blessed him. Of course, he also had the love of his life, his wife, Rebekah at his side. However, the story here is the fact that God blessed him. How can anyone live with pleasure, or with a sense of satisfaction, fulfillment, completeness, and contentment, unless they are in a relationship with God Almighty, the creator of all that was ever created? How can anyone be happy unless God blesses them? It seems we have all tried to make ourselves happy or feel satisfied but it is doubtful that in our own strength we would ever accomplish those feelings, and never would feel the sense of contentment, for we are always bent on wanting more, wanting better, or bigger than what we have. We may never feel satisfied, fulfilled, happy, and content unless we are blessed by God. That very word blessed carries all those meaning within it and once we have committed our ways to the Lord, as Abraham did as he believed God. When we live believing God as well as we believe in God, following His voice, His direction for our lives, and His leadership, we will be happy, fulfilled, satisfied, content, blessed by our Lord, living until a ripe old age, that God has ordained for us,  even before we were born. What a joy to live as one blessed by God.