WHAT FAITH BRINGS (PART 5)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:8-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Imagine this scenario.

You are settled in a community and own a farm and its associated property. You live there with your family and have a multitude of possessions to include different livestock you raise and sell. You’re in a very comfortable, stable situation, personally and financially.

One day, you receive a visit from God who tells you He wants you to move, taking your family and possessions with you. And He adds that you will need to go where He leads, only promising that the transition would be worth it for He would make you prosperous and famous, a blessing to others.

How would you respond? Would you pick up and go as God demanded or would you question Him or even just reject His order?

I don’t know about you but this isn’t an easy proposal if we’re honest about it. It would require the greatest faith in God to place your full trust in Him as you ventured into a future only known by Him alone.

But this is exactly what Abram (aka Abraham) did. He was living with his wife Sarai and nephew Lot in Haran when God came to him with the following demand:

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1-3

Verses 4 and 5 tell us that Abraham “went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out.”

And so when we read in our passage today that Abraham, “by faith”, obeyed “when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance...even though he didn’t know where he was going”. Trusting fully in God, “he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country”, living “in tents” while “looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God” (aka Heaven).  

When we look at Abraham, we see how true faith leads a believer to go and do what God wants with complete, unflinching obedience, no matter the uncertainty associated with His command or the potential cost involved. For we, like him, are born into a sinful world that is not our true home. We live in this temporary existence with a hope through Christ Jesus that the best is yet ahead for us but only when this life is over for it’s then that we will inherit and inhabit the “city with foundations whose architect and builder is God”. Until then, we are to do as Jesus commanded us, going wherever He leads us to make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, while teaching those disciples to obey all that Jesus commanded. We don’t know where He might send us but we, like Abraham, need to be willing to go and trust Him, no matter what might come our way.

In the end, God fulfilled His blessed covenant with Abraham and one day, all Christians will be likewise blessed as they move from this worldly life onto the promised, glorious eternity of Heaven.

All we need to do is keep the faith.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.