The Calling of Abraham
Abraham’s life shows us human faithfulness at some of its best. I say ‘human’ faithfulness because we will soon see the weakness that our humanity adds to everything we attempt for God. However, here, in the beginning of Abraham’s story, he shows courage and faith. Notice that he never asks God why. He never demands a detailed plan of where he should go and how to get there. He doesn’t look back at his life in Haran and lament the cushy, prosperity he is leaving behind to wander towards an unknown exact destination. He simply, faithfully, packs up and heads out.
There will always be times in each of our lives when God calls us in a direction we had not planned to go. How will we answer the Lord? Will we faithfully set out, or will we complain and drag our feet? Abram believed and was called righteous because he believed that God had the best plans. His belief in God’s promises and plans can be seen so clearly when he arrived at the oak of Moreh. Though Abram had no children, and a powerful nation actually laid claim to the very soil he stood on, Abram acted upon his belief in God’s promise by building an altar of worship to God for the gift he would never live to see.
At Stephen’s trial, he mentioned this tremendous faith of Abram (Abraham). He said, “Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living; yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him in possession and to his posterity after him, though he had no child.” (Acts 7:4-5)
The calling of Abraham inspires us to put feet to our faith. If we truly believe in the God who makes the promise, we will have no problem acting on what we cannot yet see. We believe because God is faithful. We believe because we have seen proof of His power and dependability throughout history and our own lives. Our belief is seen in our actions. What are your actions saying of your faith?
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