A Journey with Abram
When we read the account of Abram in Genesis 12 how he was called and obediently/faithfully went, we could say to ourselves, “I wish I could have faith like that.” But when we search deeper into the bible and find out more of the life of the man Abram, we find him to be more like us than first meets the eye. In Acts 7 we hear Stephen, while being questioned, retell the history of Abram saying, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.”
What’s more is that while he was living in Ur (lower Mesopotamia) and Haran (Assyria), Joshua 24:2 tells us that they (Abram’s family) were worshippers of idols/false gods. Abram/Abraham is a true life story that shows you and me that Abram, like us, was only flesh and blood. It was through God’s revelation and Abram’s quest for God that Abram turned into a man of great faith. As we walk with Abram, we will learn what it looks and feels like as God molds us into people like Abram, people of faith. Walking with God is a long journey, but the destination is faith.
August 27th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Wow…I don’t think I fully realized until reading this that Abram and his family were worshippers of idols/false gods. All you typically hear about is that he was a great man of faith, etc…and how we should all be more like him. Which seems like a very high-bar.
This is a refreshing discovery that there is hope for us all. We CAN become people of faith, just like him, despite our past.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:07 am
its so encouraging to know that even abraham, the father of faith, didnt get it right all the time!! thank god for his grace!!
August 28th, 2008 at 7:51 am
I so relate, so many times I forget how faithful God has been. Through the tough or even scary times like Abram did, I tend to resort to my own way and my own thinking. Hillary said it .. “Thank God for his grace!”