# 190 Loyal Heart

The Book of Genesis

Day 190

Ge 21:22 And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do. 23 "Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt." 24 And Abraham said, "I will swear."

There’s that phrase again!  One of 452 times that it shows up in Scripture. “It came to pass,”  something important occurs here that God is giving the green light to.  That something is connected to the well that Abraham  digs at Beersheba and we’ll get to that next time. For today I want to talk about the respect that Abimelech has for Abraham.

That respect comes from the fact that he has noticed that God is with Abraham in all that Abraham does.  This Abimelech is a powerful man! He is so powerful that he brings his own five star general (Phichol)  along with him for his conference with Abraham. He didn’t come to threaten Abraham or rattle his sword, rather he comes asking that Abraham will do him right and treat him with honesty and kindness.

He asks for the same kind of kindness that he had shown Abraham when he restored Sarah to him.  Why? Why would such a powerful ruler like Abimelech, , who theoretically  could have squashed Abraham and his servants like a bug, be so anxious to find favor with him?

Because he had been observing Abraham and he saw that God was with him, and he thought it would be wise to have Abraham as his friend. Think about his experiences with God through Abraham and you’ll see that this was a no-brainer.. God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and scared the pants off him because of Sarah. God had brought a plague to Abimelech’s camp and when Abraham prayed the plague was lifted, and by now Abimelech was likely aware of the birth of Isaac to this elderly couple. Abraham was not to be messed with!  A friendship with him was something to be desired.

This causes me to wonder: What does the world see when they look at me and my lifestyle? Would they say, “God is clearly with Duane.  Duane would be a welcome ally of mine, especially if I need prayer?”  I really don’t know what would trigger such a response. Would it be the way I handled adversity? Would it be the way I treated others? Would it be the evidence of God’s providential care for me?    

I don’t know! I know one thing that has always stood out to me in Scripture and it comes from 2Ch 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”This is a passage that we all should deposit in our memory bank, and it should be a top priority for us in our lives as followers of Jesus……loyal hearts! It is the loyal heart that God is looking for, and it is the loyal heart that invites the strength of God into our situations, whatever they may be.

Pray: Lord, let my pledge of loyalty not just be lip service, but let me live in a way that Your searching eyes, and the searching eyes of the lost see my loyalty in action.