Several years ago, I tucked my not-quite-reading-ready son in for his nap with a Lego-inspired picture Bible and a kiss on the forehead. I\u2019d just settled into the bliss of a quiet house when his feet pitter-pattered toward me, Bible in hand. His eyes were as big as buttered biscuits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s this?!\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There on the page was a minifigure. A bold expression was painted on his little, yellow face. I read the caption and took a deep breath. Determined not to shy away from the whole counsel of God I said, \u201cWell, bud, that\u2019s circumcision.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s circumcision?\u201d was, of course, his next reply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is circumcision? Most of us understand the mechanics of it, but why did a loving, faithful, sane God require such a peculiar and painful thing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer, I think, is found in two words: personal and permanent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Genesis 17 records God\u2019s generational plan for redemption and blessings. This was a God-initiated, God-executed covenant. Fruitful family, luscious land, kings and kingdoms, intimacy with God Himself\u2014the Lord promised all of this and more to Abram and his descendants, agreeing to meet their deepest and most desperate needs. But the pledge was sealed with that strange requirement: \u201cEvery one of your males must be circumcised\u201d (Genesis 17:10). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like my wide-eyed toddler, it\u2019s natural to linger here, but circumcision is not the focus of this story. The permanence of the promise is. Take out your pen, and circle the word permanent in Genesis 17. You\u2019ll quickly find a pattern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA permanent<\/em> possession\u201d (v.8). Few parts of the body are more personal than the one Abram and his sons were required to remove, few surgeries more permanent. Certainly circumcision at age 99 would have been painful (v.24), but it was also irreversible. God would never renege on His promise to Abram. Likely prone to spiritual amnesia, just like the rest of us, I wonder if Abram was grateful that he carried the permanence of that promise in his very body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course the Abrahamic covenant is but a shadow of a greater promise. Jesus went to the cross so that we might experience many of the same blessings given to our forefather, chiefly, intimacy with God. To seal the covenant, He laid down His life in one of the most violent and brutal ways imaginable. Because His love for you is personal, so personal He laid down His life for you, and His sacrifice is permanent. No one can ever undo what He accomplished on the cross. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [This] was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.<\/em> Several years ago, I tucked my not-quite-reading-ready son in for his nap with a Lego-inspired picture Bible and a kiss on the forehead. I\u2019d just settled into the bliss of a quiet house when his feet pitter-pattered toward me, Bible in hand. His eyes were as big as buttered biscuits. \u201cWhat\u2019s this?!\u201d he asked. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":71766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genesis25"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[71878],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"She Reads Truth","devotional_text":"COVENANT CIRCUMCISION<\/b> Several years ago, I tucked my not-quite-reading-ready son in for his nap with a Lego-inspired picture Bible and a kiss on the forehead. I\u2019d just settled into the bliss of a quiet house when his feet pitter-pattered toward me, Bible in hand. His eyes were as big as buttered biscuits.<\/p> \u201cWhat\u2019s this?!\u201d he asked.<\/p> There on the page was a minifigure. A bold expression was painted on his little, yellow face. I read the caption and took a deep breath. Determined not to shy away from the whole counsel of God I said, \u201cWell, bud, that\u2019s circumcision.\u201d<\/p> \u201cWhat\u2019s circumcision?\u201d was, of course, his next reply.<\/p> What is circumcision? Most of us understand the mechanics of it, but why did a loving, faithful, sane God require such a peculiar and painful thing?<\/p> The answer, I think, is found in two words: personal and permanent.<\/p> Genesis 17 records God\u2019s generational plan for redemption and blessings. This was a God-initiated, God-executed covenant. Fruitful family, luscious land, kings and kingdoms, intimacy with God Himself\u2014the Lord promised all of this and more to Abram and his descendants, agreeing to meet their deepest and most desperate needs. But the pledge was sealed with that strange requirement: \u201cEvery one of your males must be circumcised\u201d (Genesis 17:10).<\/p> Like my wide-eyed toddler, it\u2019s natural to linger here, but circumcision is not the focus of this story. The permanence of the promise is. Take out your pen, and circle the word permanent in Genesis 17. You\u2019ll quickly find a pattern.<\/p> \u201cA permanent<\/i> possession\u201d (v.8). Few parts of the body are more personal than the one Abram and his sons were required to remove, few surgeries more permanent. Certainly circumcision at age 99 would have been painful (v.24), but it was also irreversible. God would never renege on His promise to Abram. Likely prone to spiritual amnesia, just like the rest of us, I wonder if Abram was grateful that he carried the permanence of that promise in his very body.<\/p> Of course the Abrahamic covenant is but a shadow of a greater promise. Jesus went to the cross so that we might experience many of the same blessings given to our forefather, chiefly, intimacy with God. To seal the covenant, He laid down His life in one of the most violent and brutal ways imaginable. Because His love for you is personal, so personal He laid down His life for you, and His sacrifice is permanent. No one can ever undo what He accomplished on the cross.<\/p> [This] was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.<\/em>
\u201cA permanent<\/em> covenant\u201d (v.13).
\u201cA permanent<\/em> covenant\u201d (v.19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014Romans 4:23\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\r\nby Erin Davis<\/i>
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\r\n\u201cA permanent<\/i> covenant\u201d (v.13).
\r\n\u201cA permanent<\/i> covenant\u201d (v.19).<\/p>
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\u2014Romans 4:23\u00a0<\/em><\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"11","scripture":"Genesis 17:1-27, Genesis 18:1-21, Romans 4:9-25","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}