Once upon a time,  there was a pond. There in the pond, was a log on which sat FIVE frogs basking in the sun. THREE of the frogs decided to jump into the pond, how many frogs are left on the log now?
 
I heard this interesting story some time back and the answer spoke to my heart. My answer was what most of you will come up with. Answer follows later on this page.
 
Going back to our devotion passage we see, God makes this covenant with Abram. This covenant is unconditional and depended solely on God who obligates Himself in grace. God promised to make Abram into a great nation, to bless him, to make his name great and to make him a blessing. Bible does not give any reason why God chose Abram to pour His unconditional blessings upon him.
 
But Abram was to do one thing. God had said, "Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father's house,". That does not sound easy, in fact the very thought is unsettling. Leave my father's house, leave my comfort zone, uproot myself, my family, leave known surroundings and everything that gives me a sense of security and follow God to who knows where? What is the guarantee that all will still be fine? I am sure all that went through Abram's mind too.
 
Obedience is the key to be blessed by God. God does not bless disobedience. We hear God's word and know what he requires from us, but still do what WE want and what pleases US. We obey God only when it suits us and within our comfort zones. Then when blessings do not come our way, we wonder why God is turning a blind eye to us. In such times, instead of looking up, we need to look inwards and see if we have obeyed God to do what he has asked us to do.
 
Obeying God to leave his father's house was the pre-requirement to become a great nation, to be blessed, to have a great name, and to become a blessing. Isn't this what most people want today? To be successful in our endeavours, to be blessed enough to be a blessing to others. Then why are we not obedient to God?
 
Recently, one of my close brother-in-Christ followed God's calling for his life and moved to another country. He had to liquidate all that he had in Canada (house, car, possessions), uprooted his family, and followed where God had them go. My family was with them in most of the wind up, late night packing of essential things, and we could see that this whole process was uncomfortable and tiring for them.
 
But remember, blessings follow obedience to God, and we must never lose sight of that. These blessings may not always be material (God promised to Abram, "I will make your name great"), but knowing that we are living in God's will and His plan for our life, far exceeds any worldly pleasures. Just like Abram, let us keep our eyes on the Lord so that His grace may rest upon us. See what a great name God gave to Abraham that he is called the father of the nations.
 
So back to the story of the FIVE frogs. After the THREE frogs decided to jump into the pond, there were FIVE frogs that were still left on the log. You may ask, How is that? Well the answer is simple, there is a earth-wide gap between a decision to do something, and actually doing it.
 
So, after making a decision to jump, are we still sitting comfortably on our log and basking in the sunshine? Is something holding us back from fulfilling our decision? Let us commit these chains to the Lord in prayer and ask Him for the strength to obey and to be blessed by Him.
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"Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your kindred 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."

 Genesis 12:1, 2.

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