Why Are You Fearful, O You of Little Faith? - Genesis 27-28 and Matthew 8:18-34
Rebekah was afraid that Jacob would not receive his father's blessing before he died, so she devised an elaborate deception to fool Isaac into blessing him. Why did she not just trust God to do what He said He would do before the twin boys were born? Why did she think she had to take things into her own hands? The reason is that fear causes us to have a lack of faith. We begin to listen to our flesh instead of exercising faith. That is the worst thing we can do. Think about how Rebekah's lack of faith caused all kinds of problems. It works the same way in our lives today, when we have little faith.
Once Jacob left to flee from his brother, Esau, God came to him in a dream to bolster his faith. He showed him the ladder to heaven, and He repeated the covenant. Jacob responded in faith by telling God he would give a tithe of all God gave him. That is what God wants us to do. He wants us to simply trust Him. Tithing is one of the main ways we show that we trust God, and we are depending on Him for everything.
In Matthew 8 we see several examples of this truth. The two men who came to Jesus and said they wanted to be His disciples were scared off because of the depth of the commitment Jesus required. Then, the 12 disciples were afraid of the storm, and they forgot who Jesus was. Their faith evaporated because of their fear, too. Finally, the people in the region of the Gergesenes asked Jesus to leave their country. They did not focus on the miracle done to the demon possessed men, but on their loss of income from the dead pigs. This fear led them to reject faith in Christ. That is why Jesus had to say, "Why are you fearful?" Have you ever thought about that? If we know Christ, why are we afraid? We should live by faith and not by fear. Let's just believe Jesus and trust Him to carry out His will.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 29-30 and Matthew 9:1-17.
Once Jacob left to flee from his brother, Esau, God came to him in a dream to bolster his faith. He showed him the ladder to heaven, and He repeated the covenant. Jacob responded in faith by telling God he would give a tithe of all God gave him. That is what God wants us to do. He wants us to simply trust Him. Tithing is one of the main ways we show that we trust God, and we are depending on Him for everything.
In Matthew 8 we see several examples of this truth. The two men who came to Jesus and said they wanted to be His disciples were scared off because of the depth of the commitment Jesus required. Then, the 12 disciples were afraid of the storm, and they forgot who Jesus was. Their faith evaporated because of their fear, too. Finally, the people in the region of the Gergesenes asked Jesus to leave their country. They did not focus on the miracle done to the demon possessed men, but on their loss of income from the dead pigs. This fear led them to reject faith in Christ. That is why Jesus had to say, "Why are you fearful?" Have you ever thought about that? If we know Christ, why are we afraid? We should live by faith and not by fear. Let's just believe Jesus and trust Him to carry out His will.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 29-30 and Matthew 9:1-17.