So That

A group of women from my church are studying the story of Rahab of Jericho from Joshua in our summer session Bible study. We are using Francine River's novella on Rahab (in her Lineage of Grace series) to help facilitate the study. Last week we talked about the fact that while God destroyed all the people in Jericho, He saved Rahab. In fact, He saved her even though she was a Caananite prostitute. A few things struck me about this passage of Scripture, but what may have struck out the most is how faithful God is. He is faithful to His people, no matter where they are from, and no matter what their backgrounds are. We are all sinners, saved by grace, redeemed and restored by the blood of Christ. It amazed me how much He cares for us. It also struck me that Rahab's story was a wonderful, early Old Testament representation of God's faithfulness to uphold the promise He made to Abram in Genesis 12. Genesis 12:1-3 contains God's first covenental promise to His people.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

Genesis 12:1-3.

In those verses, God promised that "all peoples on earth will be blessed through" Abraham and his offspring. In the battle of Jericho, God saved a Caananite prostitute, thereby, fulfilling His promise to bless people other than Abraham and his descendants.

As I was reading Genesis 12:1-3 again, I remembered something else. Awhile back I read an article that discussed these verses in the context of a missionary mandate. The author had said although God had clearly blessed Abraham in this passage, the promised blessing also came with a stated purpose: "you will be a blessing." According to the author, there was an implied "so that" in these verses. Abraham was blessed "so that" He would be a blessing, and God would bless Abraham "so that" all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. I don't know if that resonates with you, but it does with me. God has blessed me so that I will be a blessing to someone else. God has blessed you so that you will be a blessing to someone else. So, my question to you today is this: how has God blessed you recently, and who are you going to bless today because of it?

Since I posed the question, I'll start *wink*. God has blessed me with wonderful girlfriends, both here at home and in the blog world. So, today, I am going to try to reach out to someone I work with who struggles with feeling loved and accepted. Now, it's your turn. And, don't let me down here. I know God has blessed each of you. Tell me, and more importantly Him, that you realize it! I love you all.