A series on God’s calling: Abraham
Genesis 12:1-5
[Traditionally
we think of someone who has received “God’s call on their life” as being a
missionary or pastor or some other paid ministry position. But God has called
all of us into ministry. And there’s not just one way that He does it. In this
series, we will look at how God called people in the Bible to ministry, and
what that means to us.]
When we told friends at home about our plans to go
to Acadia, we received lots of advice and even tour books. We learned what
sights to see, where to park, what restaurants to eat at and most importantly, where
to eat lobster. Since we’d never been there, it was all very helpful.
Leading up to Abram’s calling from God, the “people
of the world” had settled in Babylonia. In their pride and arrogance, they
decided to build a city and then a tower to demonstrate how great they were. In
order to stop them, God scattered the people by confusing their language.
Once again, the Lord needed someone to save humanity
from themselves; to restore the world to him. He chose Abram.
1 The Lord had
said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s
family, and go to the land that I will show you. NLT
Abram didn’t know anything about the land that the
Lord had called him to. He’d never been there. Making his decision even more
difficult was the fact that he would have to leave his home and everything that
made his life stable. But he obeyed.
4 So Abram went, as
the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was
seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. NIV
We’re not told how long it took or what kind of
adversity Abram might have faced during the journey. We don’t know if he had
second thoughts about continuing the trip. Only that he obeyed God and
eventually arrived.
5 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 for the land of
Canaan, and they arrived there. NIV
Unlike my trip to Acadia National Park, Abram had no
idea where to go or what to expect. Yet, by faith, he went. And it was his
faith that the Lord counted him as righteous. Abram listened when the Lord
spoke; he acted; and he completed God’s call when he arrived in Canaan.
His call was a seismic shift in how God works.
Because now God’s strategy was to work through one man and his descendants to a
specific location. God’s promise that “all peoples on earth will be blessed
through you”, is the beginning of his redemptive plan to restore all humanity
to a personal relationship with him.
God’s covenant with Abram included land,
descendants, and blessings. But its ultimate fulfillment came in the person of
Christ, the Messiah.
16 The promises were
spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,”
meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is
Christ. NIV Galatians 3
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