Steps to Fruitfulness
First Step
In Gen. 17:1, we see several specific steps leading up to verse 6, which says, "I will make thee exceeding fruitful." I know that every one of us wants fruitfulness for Christ. The primary evidence of divine life is fruit. The pattern for fruitfulness is in Gen. 17:1, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God." The first step is a revelation and the realization of who God is.
Second Step
The next step is, "Walk before Me, and be thou perfect." We begin with a knowledge of God as revealed in Christ and go on to a walk in communion with God. "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." 1 John 1:3. That is fellowship and communion. There is no true fellowship apart from the fellowship that is based on a knowledge of Christ as revealed from God the Father.
Third Step
The third step is, "Be thou perfect"; the margin says, "Be thou sincere." The word "sincere" comes from two Latin words—sine cera—"without wax." Phil. 1:10 says, "that ye may be sincere... till the day of Christ." In the days when this scripture was written at the time of the Roman empire, the potters would make their clay pots and sometimes the pots would crack during the firing process. A potter who was not honest would take wax and seal up the crack and color it so that when you looked at it you could not see the cracks unless you held it up to the light. Then you would find that there was actually wax filler in it. A potter who was honest and did good work would turn his finished product upside down and stamp on the bottom "sine cera"—without wax. That's what "sincere" means.
Fourth Step
The fourth step is in verse 3, "Abram fell on his face." It tells us in 1 Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." If we start the pattern of our early life in stubbornness and self-will, in refusing to bow under the hand of God, it will plague us for the rest of our lives. And then when we are older and someone in the assembly says something that hurts us, or is not true about us, we will react in self-defense and self-vindication. That will bring sorrow and sadness into our lives and our families' lives, and division and sorrow among the people of God. If we can do like Abram did and fall on our faces and humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, there will be blessing.
Fifth Step
The next step is that God talked with him in communion. That may go beyond our selfish thoughts about what is God's will for our life; it is really an understanding of God's thoughts for His people. Perhaps you say, "I wonder why I cannot understand prophecy?" Those are God's thoughts with respect to His people. If we do not understand it, one of the reasons may be because our thoughts are so selfish and narrow that they don't include the purposes of God.
Sixth Step
The next step is in verse 5, "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham." A new name really brings before us a complete change, leaving behind everything that was before. We become a new creature [creation] in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:17.) That happens when we are born again. But I believe there is a time in our lives, too, as we go along for the Lord, that we have to remind ourselves to walk in the good of that position in which we have been placed.