Abram's Call

Gen 12

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

God calls Abram away from all that is familiar…. his family, his father’s house, his geographical surroundings and the normalcy of his traditions and his land.  EVERYTHING he grew up knowing, counting on, understanding, relying on… God called him away from it.

Why?  Could God have blessed Abram and made him a great nation where he was physically located? Of course.  Its apparent that Abram was quite successful in this place.  He was also on some sort of terms with God – he could hear Him.  I know people who claim to be Christians all their lives that strive to hear God and question if they ever do or ever did.  So clearly, the spiritual environment Abram was in wasn’t all bad.

So why?  Why did God call Abram out from everything he knew, everyone he knew and loved and who loved him?

There are likely several reasons that could be articulated, but for me the one that is most applicable to me today is that God wanted to get Abram to a place of utter and complete dependence upon God and God alone.  In places were there would be difficulties, it would be too easy to run back to what is “known” and “comfortable”… God called Abram into a place where the blessing would benefit not only his family for generations, but the entire world for all eternity.

God’s cool like that.  I can look back over my life and see times where I had no where to go but to my knees.  Those are the character defining events of my life.