A Painful Obedience

God changed Abram's name to Abraham, from exulted father to the father of many. He also changed Sarai's name to Sarah, this was before Isaac was born. Was God capable of allowing Abraham and Sarah to have a child at the age of 99 and 90? Yes, He has all power and God can do what no one else can do. In circumcision, God takes something that men do not need or use, but something that is very personal and painful to them. God may ask us in His word to do things that to us do not make a lot of sense. Even if what God asks does not make sense, if it is God's word, we need to do it and do it right away. We do this because God says to do it. When God says we need to do something, we need to do it. Even if we are under attack, we must not take our cues from the culture, we need to take them from God. We do not need to feel ready to do what God says, we just need to do what God says. God is the Ruler of the Universe and He commands and we must obey. God will never contradict His word, He will not go back on His promises. God changes us from the inside (our hearts) where our desire is not to try to get away with doing stuff, but where we want to please and serve God. We may still be tempted to sin, but our response to that sin is to say, God forbid.