Oct. 6th Devotion

An Unlimited Shelf Life
Greg Laurie

“I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3 NKJV).
Have you’ve ever eaten something and then realized that it had gone beyond its shelf life? That isn’t a happy experience, is it? I’m glad there isn’t a predetermined shelf life for the promises of God. When God makes a promise or when He establishes a covenant, He keeps it.
God established a covenant with Israel through their father, Abraham. He said, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3 NKJV).

Also, in Romans 9-11 we read about God’s special relationship with Israel. Thus, anyone who has chosen to bless the Jewish people, and I think by extension, the nation Israel, will be blessed. And anyone who oppresses or attacks the Jewish people, and by extension, the nation Israel, will face the ramifications of it as well.
We owe a great debt to the Jewish people because it is through the Jews that we received our Scripture. And it is through the Jews that Jesus, our Messiah, came. God keeps His promises, and the four-thousand-year-old promise that God made to Abraham doesn’t have a shelf life. It’s still good.

One of the ways we know that God keeps His promises is because of His faithfulness to the Jewish people—the chosen people, the very apple of His eye.
God made a covenant with the Jews that He is never going to break, and God has made a covenant with the church that He will not break, either. He has kept His promises to them, and He will keep His promises to us as well.