Understanding God: He Incentivizes Obedience
Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 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.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. – Genesis 12:1-4
In continuation of our exploration of God’s personality and character, we shall consider today another of His traits: incentivization. He is a God who incentivizes or offers rewards to facilitate obedience.
Over the years, puritanicals have portrayed God as an ogre and killjoy. This is because they mostly see God from the standpoint of rules and instructions alone, with rewards or punishments only following obedience or disobedience. But God is much more than dos and don’ts. He is dynamic and personal enough to engage humans directly and encourage obedience. That is perhaps why most of His instructions usually have a catch to them, thus enabling His children to make intelligent choices and informed decisions about whether or not to comply.
As we can see from His conversation with Abraham, God did not just ask him to leave or step out. He also dangled promissory notes in Abraham’s face. He made enticing promises to Abraham of what he stood to gain by stepping out of his comfort zone to resume the journey that his father had started but could not complete.
God had read the room and observed Abraham’s willingness to settle rather than proceed. One cannot blame the poor man for not being interested in continuing the journey to Canaan at the advanced age of 75, as it was not his idea in the first place. It was his father, Terah, who embarked on the audacious 2,000-kilometer journey. However, Terah died only after covering halfway of the entire journey, and his son, Abraham, was content to settle at Haran, where they stopped.
God knew that Abraham would need motivation to continue this destiny-defining journey. So He came to him with the following promises:
“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
Now, who would not want all these? Even though Abraham appeared to be complacent and laidback up to this point, the array of promises that God made him was enough to spark him awake and get him up and doing to continue, not minding his old age. Imagine if God had not promised him anything and only asked him to continue the long, arduous journey; Abraham arguably would not have moved an inch. But by incentivizing His invitation with promises of blessings, greatness and a tantalizing future, God made the decision easy for Abraham to make and his obedience a no-brainer. He Incentivizes and motvates.
Selah!
Also read:
- Men in the Bible: How NOT to Be A Father
- The Benefits of Wisdom: Discretion, A Companion of Wisdom
- Leaving 99
- The Benediction
- Countless Blessings from God
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