Foolish Things

²² When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. ²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷ And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. [Genesis 17:22-27; English Standard Version]

I am studying Genesis 12-20 this month for my personal Bible study and there are many things in that span of chapters that really speak to me, but this morning I was really hit by chapter 17. What struck me most was Abraham’s reaction to God’s command. God told Abraham to be circumcised, and he did it “that very day.” Now, how many of us can say that? When God calls us, how often do we drop everything and just do what He says?

Notice that Abraham did not say “Well, God, that’s great and I’ll get right on it as soon as my schedule is clear. I’ll pencil you in for next Tuesday. Unless something else comes up, that is.” He did not say “I’ll have to check with my insurance to make sure this procedure is covered and get an appointment to have it done. You know how difficult it is to get for this sort of thing. Not to mention that you said everyone in my household. This isn’t going to be easy, you know.” No excuses; no putting it off until a more convenient time. God called and commanded and Abraham did it.

You have to admire that. How often do we come up with excuses? Good excuses, to be sure. There are lots of things that have to be done, after all. But, as a Christian, who are you living for? Your family? Your boss? Yourself? Where do your priorities lie? Where should they lie? God knows the circumstances of our lives and He doesn’t give us direction for no reason. He knows your schedule better than you do.

God doesn’t do anything on a whim, either. He has a plan and the timing of his command is part of that plan. To be sure, He gives second chances (and third and fourth) if we don’t respond the first time, but better to submit to inevitable than try to fight it. I do speak from experience.

So what is He calling you to do, today? That little nudge you feel to get up an hour earlier to spend some time with Him reading His Word — that’s a good one. How about that nagging feeling that you should just speak up. Or that co-worker or friend that you’ve been meaning to talk to about your Christian walk. What about when someone pops into your head that you just feel like you need to pray for. Those are all ways in which He calls.

Stop making excuses. When God calls, respond. Willingly, cheerfully and immediately respond. You’ll be glad you did.