Word for Wednesday

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:8

How did Abraham ever get rich? He bucked all the most important rules of business. He never laid down any plans for building his fortune; he never knew where he was going next; he had no idea what was on the agenda for next week, let alone next year; he never built a permanent headquarters; he never bought any real estate beyond a burial plot for his wife. How did he expect to be any kind of a success with all that uncertainty in his life? And yet, Abraham achieved more in his lifetime than you and I can ever hope to accomplish. As far as God is concerned, he was a superstar in the field of faith, a glowing example to us all, a friend of God like few others before him or since. We can sum up Abraham’s secret of success in two little words: he went.

We don’t know what life was like in Ur. Or even in Haran, where he lived for a time. But we do know that those places had at least some semblance of stability, some certainty about what things would be like for the next little while. But God called and Abraham obeyed. It didn’t matter to Abraham where God was calling him to, or what God was asking him to do. As long as it was God’s call, Abraham was ready to proceed. Building a house would have interfered with his ability to step out onto the road to obey God’s next call; so he lived the rest of his life in a tent. What an example for you and me today!

Does God call Christians today? Does He ask His people to set aside their own plans to follow His bidding? Yes He does. And whenever He calls, it is to something that is better than what we have now. Just as a tent in Canaan is better than a mansion in Ur, so God’s purposes for us are always better than the best we can achieve on our own. Just as Abraham received a vast inheritance that he never saw, so God has an inheritance for us that is far beyond this world’s tinsel and toys.

Obedience brought Abraham into great blessing. Our path to great blessing is the same as Abraham’s: when God calls, we go. – Jim MacIntosh

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