God Says Go - Abram Obeys

Abraham received the fame that the people at Babel were trying to have.

Genesis 12:1-4 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father' family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you." 4 So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Hebrews 11:8-10 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith--for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

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We saw in the previous post that when God said go the people obeyed but the problem is they all went in one direction instead of spreading out and after a short distance they all stopped.

When someone got the idea to build a city with a great tower it seemed like a great idea so they all stayed together. Don't forget that these people are the grandchildren of the people that survived the flood so they should know better, they knew the commands of God and the severe consequences of disobedience but they just didn't care.

God needed a new people that would not be like everyone else, he needed a people that would be an example to the nations, these people would show the rest of the world how to please God and bring him glory.

God chose to start this new group of people with one ordinary man that didn't do anything at all to have God's favor on his life. He probably didn't even believe in God but when God spoke he was convinced to leave his gods behind.

Joshua 24:2 Joshua said to the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.

Abram left Ur when he started his faith journey but he allowed his father to take the lead and when Terah stopped traveling the whole family stopped at Haran. Maybe he was following the traditions of his day and remained with his father, the family patriarch, and allowed him to be in charge but that isn't what God told Abram to do. (Genesis 11:27-32)

Abram didn't continue traveling to where God wanted him until after his father died and even then he still wasn't fully obedient because he still took his nephew. On more than one occasion Lot will be a source of trouble for him later.

The group that stopped at Babel in the previous blog post wanted to make a name for themselves and create their own secure environment by their own efforts but with Abram we see a willingness to believe that the prosperity, security and fame that the people of Babel were seeking would come as a result of being obedient to God's plan.

God forced the group at Babel to spread out but Abram was obedient and completed the journey to the land that was promised to him and his descendants. God was patient and merciful to gently get Abram to the place that he wanted him.

Galatians 3:6-7 In the same way, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. 

Abram's imperfect journey of faith and obedience should be encouraging to all of us that struggle with the reality of God's promises. Sometimes we start with good intentions and we may look obedient but sometimes we aren't paying attention to the details that go into complete obedience.

Abram reminds me that I need to be willing to let go of my security and my desires which hinder my ability to trust God. He didn't have a pillar of fire or a star to follow but somehow he knew which direction and he stepped out. What an amazing contrast, if Abram needed the level of proof that we require he would have never left the farm.

Abram's willingness to live in tents and build altars is a great example for my life as I look forward to my eternal home.

RELATED ARTICLES

What was Abraham’s religion before God called him?" (gotquestions.org)
The Covenant Of Abraham (desiringgod.org)

Used By God

It is a privilege to serve God.

Ephesians 3:7-11  By God's grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving Him by spreading this Good News.  8  Though I am the least deserving of all God's people, He graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ.   

9  I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.  10  God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display His wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.  11  This was His eternal plan, which He carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Most of us don't like the idea of being used, it usually implies that someone has taken advantage of us, but the people that are being used by God don't mind it at all and they are usually very happy about it. In our selfish, sinful world people get used and mistreated everyday, we are not very nice to the people around us but there is somebody that we should be happy to have use us.

The Apostle Paul tells us that he was very privileged to be used by God. Paul was always zealous for God and wanted to be useful and obedient, that's why he was so well studied in the ways of Judaism, most of his life had been spent learning how to please God. Paul really thought that he knew God's will.

It is easy to think that your busyness is helping you accomplish God's will for your life but sometimes we are missing the mark just as bad as Paul did. Imagine spending so much time trying to please God with your life, going to the temple to learn from the local rabbi, studying everything that he taught about God and then you find out that the way to please God is totally opposite of what you had learned. God had to show him that he wasn't interested in the work that Paul was doing for him.

Instead of shoving Paul over to the side and deciding the he wasn't useful God gave him a chance for a turn around. He didn't deserve a do over but God corrected Paul's understanding about the Old Testament and revealed the truth of the Messiah to him so that he could understand the events that just happened in Jerusalem surrounding Jesus.

Appointed by God
John 15:16  You didn't choose Me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit.

A popular question to ask somebody you just met is "What kind of work do you do?" It would be awesome if we answered this question from a heavenly perspective. All of God's children have been given a job to do and we should know what it is and be just as able to talk about it as we are able to talk about our career choices here on earth.

None of us deserve to have God find us useful and beneficial to his work but by his grace we get to have a job doing kingdom work. God's grace chose to use me without any regard for my resume or my past performance.

God wants me to be his servant, someone that is a waiter or a foot washer, jobs that don't sit well with a lot of people. God wants me to serve with a sense of who I really am without him. There isn't any room for pride or glorifying myself when I think about how much he has done for me as a wretched sinner without hope.

I need to be the church by serving in the role that God has called me to work in. The church is here to bring glory to God but that will not happen unless we are obedient to God's call and serve him with our lives. (Ephesians 3:10, Matthew 5:16)

Lord help me to understand your will and the work that you have appointed for me to accomplish.