Do What???

This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.-Genesis 17:10

Why?  Wouldn't it have served the same purpose to be tattooed or pierced or something not quite so... private and intimate? 

It is interesting to note that God's request of Abraham was not unheard of.  This was actually a practice among some other nations and tribes.  It is thought to have arisen first in Egypt as a purification ritual.  It was also done as a rite of passage or proof of masculinity in other cultures.

Being that Abraham had lived in Egypt for a time, he probably knew a little about it and was not overly surprised, but probably not overjoyed.  It certainly is a means of showing how serious you are about your commitment to God.

But again, why circumcision?  It's not like everyone you meet would see it and know you are a follower of that ONE GOD god.  One article I read suggests that our God is an intimate God and our relationship is one of no secrets and that we should always approach God with a complete openness and vulnerability.

Over time, God asked more... that we circumcise our hearts (Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6; Jeremiah 4:4).  So perhaps we (humankind; I cannot claim to have experienced it personally) needed to experience the physical and literal circumcision to understand the deeper figurative request that we circumcise our hearts so that we are not stubborn any longer (Deuteronomy 10:16); and so that we and our descendants will "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live." (Deuteronomy 30:6).

Even females can circumcise their hearts.

God of Covenants,

Help us to remove that covering from our hearts that we may see, hear and touch you more fully. Amen.