Today’s chapter is a major turning point. God chooses a particular person named Abram with whom he wants to have a special relationship. That relationship will also extend to his descendants, the nation of Israel. God says he will bless Abram and his descendants with greatness so they can in turn be a blessing to others. That’s a pretty big promise considering Abram is seventy-five, Sarai, his wife, is sixty-five, and they have no children. This chapter makes it clear that Abram was not chosen because he was a tremendously good person. He actually has some pretty major faults. He is not only a liar, Joshua 24:2 implies Abram wasn’t even worshiping God before God talked to him. Essentially, the rest of the Bible will show how God blesses Abram, his descendants and all of humanity through them. The people we call Jews today are Abram’s descendants. The Bible you are reading was written almost entirely by Jews, and Jesus was a Jew. God took someone who didn’t deserve to be blessed and blessed him so people like you and me, who also don’t deserve to be blessed, could be blessed too!
Could God’s blessing of me be one of the ways God blesses others? Maybe I limit God’s blessings of others by not always listening to what he asks me to do.