Gen 15 :1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
God confronts Abram and assures him protection and promises to be his great reward. God presented himself as the ultimate great reward .i.e. his presence and his counsel. Abram was invited to draw near God and to know God intimately. However Abram seems to suggest "How good is that reward as long as I don’t have a son? My property is going to my servant and you don’t seem to care! ". Abram would care less of God's great reward when his need for a son was still a dream. Abram had built a rewarding system for himself; he played by the rules, but yet his need for son was not met. His unmet "little reward" reduced his perspective to knee level. God vision was at 40,000 ft and Abram was not able to grasp it. He did not realize that God's great plan would provide for his 'little reward'. So God gets into a dialogue with Abram and assures him of a son and rejects his fear about his future heir.
Let's not be very critical of Abram, since we would have not fared any better. Abram later graduates to Abraham and then he is willing to do way with his "little reward" (Isaac) to obey God. By then he has appropriated God's great reward.
Heb 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Like Abraham, Moses too had graduated. He released the glittering future that Egypt promised and got hold of God's plan for him. During the wilderness walk we see Moses basking in God's great reward. The same walk proved futile to numerous around him, but Moses had God with him as his great reward.
What’s in here for me?
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Yes, God desires to reward everyone who seeks him with the reward of himself, that we might behold God's dream rather than dabbling with our little dreams. So often as in the case of Abram, it was in accepting his “great reward” that he met his “little reward” and far more. When we constantly dabble with our “little rewards” we end up being children of a lesser God.
Prayer: Lord, cause me to step in line with what you are doing. Lift my eyes beyond me and mine. Cause your face to shine upon me. In Jesus name I ask Amen
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