Genesis 17:22-27: in context

God has just given Abraham the covenant of circumcision, and when the LORD finishes speaking and goes up from him, Abraham acts. That very same day, the text stresses, Abraham took Ishmael and every male of his household, those born in his house and those bought with money, and circumcised them all, as God had said to him. Abraham himself was ninety-nine years old. There was no delay, no negotiation, no putting it off; the same day God commanded, Abraham obeyed, fully.

The detail the passage underlines is the immediacy and completeness of Abraham's obedience: the same day, all of them, as God had said. This was no small or easy command. It was painful, it was strange, and Abraham was ninety-nine years old; he might have found a hundred reasons to delay, to do it partially, to wait for a more convenient time, to negotiate the terms. Instead, the moment God finished speaking, he obeyed, that very day, and completely, circumcising his whole household as commanded. His obedience was prompt and whole. There is a challenge in this to the way we often obey God, which is neither prompt nor whole. When God's word convicts us of something to do or to stop, we are prone to delay, to intend to obey later, to do it partially, to negotiate, to wait until it is convenient or comfortable. And delayed obedience easily becomes no obedience; the resolve cools, the moment passes, and the thing is never done. Abraham's example is the opposite: to obey the same day, immediately, without putting it off; and to obey fully, not partially, doing all that God said. When God makes something clear, the faithful response is not to file it away for a more convenient season, nor to obey in part while holding back the rest, but to do it now, and to do it completely. Abraham heard, and that same day he obeyed, wholly, though it was hard and he was old. The measure of our obedience is not only whether we eventually do what God says, but whether we do it promptly and completely, or delay and dilute it until it comes to nothing. I will hurry, and not delay, the psalmist says, to obey your commandments. That was Abraham's way: the same day, all of it, as God had said.

When God makes something clear that I am to do or to stop, do I delay, intending to obey later, or obey only in part, until my resolve cools and the thing is never done, or can I obey as Abraham did, the same day and completely, doing all that God said without putting it off or holding back?