By Richard Spangler
Who is Obed-Edom? Why be like him? His choices and his life led to blessings for himself and his family. Let us, together, learn who Obed-Edom was and about his life.
Who is Obed-Edom? Why be like him? His choices and his life led to blessings for himself and his family. Let us, together, learn who Obed-Edom was and about his life.
Obed-Edom is first mentioned in the Bible, just after the
death of Uzzah for touching the Ark of God. This happened during King David’s
first attempt to move the Ark to Jerusalem. The Ark of God was placed in the
home of Obed-Edom. He must have been a man of faith to allow something in his
home; just after God had killed someone for touching it (this broke one of the
commands of the Lord concerning the Ark). The ark of God remained with
Obed-Edom for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything
he owned.
When it came time to move the Ark to Jerusalem, (this time correctly) Obed-Edom had a choice. He could have stayed where he was and lived off of his past relationship with God or move with the Ark of God, staying in God’s presence and in relationship with God.
Obed-Edom had a desire for the Lord and moved with God. His desire for the Lord caused him to do whatever it took to be close to the Lord. He became a gatekeeper, a musician, and a doorkeeper for the Ark. Due to Obed-Edom’s desire and love for the Lord and his faithfulness, God begins again to bless him and promote him.
Obed-Edom becomes a worship leader and is mentioned along
with Aspah the Chief Musician. Obed-Edom and his 68 associates minister
regularly before the Lord in worship. Yet, he still continues to keep the
gates. When it came time to move the Ark to Jerusalem, (this time correctly) Obed-Edom had a choice. He could have stayed where he was and lived off of his past relationship with God or move with the Ark of God, staying in God’s presence and in relationship with God.
Obed-Edom had a desire for the Lord and moved with God. His desire for the Lord caused him to do whatever it took to be close to the Lord. He became a gatekeeper, a musician, and a doorkeeper for the Ark. Due to Obed-Edom’s desire and love for the Lord and his faithfulness, God begins again to bless him and promote him.
Obed-Edom is not only blessed in ministry and relationship
with the Lord, his family is also blessed. God gives him eight sons, his poor
wife raising a football team. His sons and grandsons also worshiped the Lord
and were blessed by the Lord. They were all leaders, capable men, with strength
to do the work. There were 62 men in all. Obed-Edom along with his other duties
was put in charge of the Southgate and his sons were keepers of the storehouse.
Obed-Edom by his faith, attitude, and actions created a
legacy of faith, and relationship with the Lord. The Lord was faithful back to
Obed-Edom establishing a legacy of generational blessings.
Obed-Edom had to pack up and physically move to stay in the
presence of God. His desire for a relationship with God established a
relationship not only for himself but also for his children and grandchildren.
This relationship also established generational blessings from God for his
family.
Today, we don’t have to travel to a specific place to know
the presence of the Lord or to have a relationship with the Lord. We, as
believers all have the Holy Spirit within us. But, it is up to each of us to
stir up the desire to seek out our own relationship with God, Our Father. The
Father desires for us to have a relationship with him. He waits patiently for
His sons and daughters to seek him out and have an individual relationship with
Him.
We can have this relationship with the Father by first,
hungering and thirsting after righteousness, we will be filled (Mt. 5:6). We
must work to keep our hearts pure and we will see God. We must seek first the
Kingdom of God and Its righteousness (Mt. 6:37).
Our Father is crying out by His Spirit within us, for each
of us to stir up our desire for Him. He wants us to be passionate for Him, to
get hungry and thirsty for Him. When you are hungry and thirsty for something,
you do what it takes to be satisfied.
The first step is to keep a pure heart… Unconfessed sin is a
relationship and a blessing stopper with God. Keep short accounts with the Lord
by following 1 John 1:9 and by keeping short accounts with others. No
choice here. If you have done wrong, go to the person, confess it, ask for
forgiveness and make it right. If you know some one has something against you,
go to them, and don’t wait for them to come to you. Make it right. Be careful
what you watch on T.V., listen to the radio, and what comes in over the
Internet, enough said.
Second, study the Word of God, and mediate on it daily.
Mediation is not mystical or hard. If you can worry, you can mediate. We all do
a great job worrying. We take an issue and keep thinking the worst that can
happen over and over again. Mediation is thinking about a particular scripture
or the goodness of God, over and over again.
This is simple but it works, and the more you do it the
easier it gets. Putting on worship music helps with mediation and will bring
the Presence of God.
A third step is just relax and rest in the Presence of God.
We think that we must be doing something all the time for God. Relaxing and
resting in God’s Presence is extremely important. It is in these times that we
can clearly hear from the Lord. A Web site that can help with this www.soaking.net.
Finally, get up and get moving. Get involved in your church
and/or your community. Obed-Edom did not wait for the Lord to tell him to do
something, he just did it. He waited on the Lord by doing. You will find as you
are doing the work of the ministry, God will give you direction in what to do.
So be an Obed-Edom, have a desire for God. Keep your heart
pure. Study and mediate on the Lord, and relax and rest in God’s presence. Get
up and get involved. By doing these things, you will have a relationship with
God, and He will bless you and your family and create blessings for you and
generational blessings for your family.
Scripture References for Obed-Edom: 1 Chronicles Chapters
13:12-14, 15:18, 21, 24, 16:38, 26:4-6, 12-15.
©COPYRIGHT
2009 RICHARD SPANGLER
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