Topic: Faith/ Abram – The Call
I am continuing my study of faith with Abram, who is later named Abraham,
a native of Ur, in Mesopotamia, is called by God to leave his own country and people and journey to an untraveled land, where he will be a founder of a new nation. Abraham is considered the spiritual father of three monotheistic (belief that there is only one God) faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
In Chapter 12: 1-3, we read of Abram‘s call. Verse 1 tells us that the Lord said unto Abram, “Get thee out of the country, and from thy kindred (family), and from your father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee”.
In reading Mathew Henry’s Commentary (Complete), we are given additional insight into Abram’s call from Saint Stephen in Acts 7:2, that the God of glory appears to Abram in such displays of glory which left no room to doubt the divine authority of this call. And, we are told that God continues to speak to Abram in divers (multiple, various) manners (ways).
It’s not easy to unexpectedly, “get thee out of the country”, packing, getting your business in order, saying goodbye and leaving your family to go where you have never been.
When God told Abram to get out of his country, he was initially obedient and came out of the land of Chaldeans, BUT put a pause on his calling and chose to live in Canaan five years until his father died. It was then that God gave Abram a fresh command pursuant to the former, “get thee out of the country”.
During those five years, maybe Abram thought Charran was where he was supposed to be, maybe he was distracted or afraid of God’s promises or thought he was not up to God’s plans. God was gracious and patient, but reminded Abram that it’s time to get up, and keep moving, this is not the place where you should be.
But we can’t judge Abram because we do the same thing. Change can be terrifying when you are comfortable where you are – good or bad.
When I received my call, initially I was not happy, but God taught me it was not about me, it was about him. When I wrote my first book, Discover Your Value, Discover Your Purpose, I thought just writing it was enough. Nope. I had more to do, I had to publish it which basically meant everyone would know my business, I felt completely naked and terrified, but I eventually got over it and kept moving because I had to be obedient to my purpose.
The lesson that I see in today’s lesson is to not linger in places that I don’t belong. It’s easy to loose focus on our purpose when we are surrounded by people, ways and habits that are comfortable, but may be contrary to God’s plans for us. Our faith grows in our obedience. That often requires us to be focused and uncomfortable.
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