God established His covenant with
Abraham. He changed his name and He gave him fresh promises of a
multitude of blessings and all Abraham had to do was to accept the
covenant. And his way of accepting it was to circumcise all the
males in his household, which he did, on the very same day that God
gave him this instruction.
Now circumcision for me is a very
interesting thing to do. Of all the things God could have asked him
to do, He required this of him. Why? I would like to share with you
the explanation in my Bible, the Life Application Study Bible:
- It was a sign that they will obey God in all matters.
- It was a sign that they belonged to His covenant people. Once
circumcised there was no turning back. The man would be identified
as a Jew forever.
- It served as a symbol of 'cutting off' the old life of sin,
purifying one's heart and dedicating oneself to God.
- It might possibly have served as a health measure in those
days.
Now Abraham and his descendants
continued with this tradition of circumcision. This tradition
continued to live on in the lives of the Israelites, even during
their years of bondage in Egypt. It was only during the 40 years
that they travelled in the wilderness after the Exodus, that they
didn't perform circumcision. But before they could enter the
Promised Land, God commanded that they be circumcised again (Joshua
5:2). Why? Well to mark them off as His people again. It served as
a physical sign of the covenant that He had made with Abraham and
it reminded them of that. Here it also indicated that they should
now leave their old lives as slaves behind and start their new
lives as rightful owners of land.
This tradition never stopped. Jesus
Himself was circumcised as a Jew. And today the Jewish people still
perform this ritual. But for us as Christians, this ritual serves
as a reminder to us, to be spiritually circumcised. This means that
when we accept Jesus into our lives, we should 'cut off' our old
life of sin and embrace our new life in Christ. We should depart
from our fleshly desires and rather give in to the desires of His
Holy Spirit inside of us. We cannot serve two masters, and at a
stage in our lives we need to choose: Are we going to follow our
fleshly desires or are we going to follow the Holy Spirit, as we
cannot serve both. One will be the master and one will be the
servant. I can tell you that the flesh makes a good servant, but a
terrible master. It will be in our best interest if we give the
Holy Spirit total reign in our lives. Our lives will be filled with
His power and love. What more can we ask than to be filled in
totality with His Spirit. It is only then that we will have total
fulfilment in life.
Next time when you read about the
ritual of circumcision, think about the spiritual circumcision in
your life. I have spoken previously how we are the spiritual
children of Abraham, the father of faith. And if we would like to
partake in all the blessings God has in store for us, we need to
accept the covenant from our side and undergo spiritual
circumcision. Have you done it? Have you turned from following your
fleshly desires? Have you 'cut off' your own self from ruling your
life? Be circumcised in the Spirit today and experience the
fullness of His Spirit guiding your every step. You will never be
disappointed. It will be one of your most liberating experiences.
You are part of God's covenant until the day He comes to fetch us,
what a wonderful prospect.
Thank you Father that we can be
circumcised in the Spirit. Thank you for paving the way for us
Jesus. Thank you for helping us in every regard. Please help us and
give us the strength to turn from our evil, fleshly ways and rather
follow You, where our lives will be overflowing with grace and
love. Amen