A New Beginning Through Abram

"The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him." Genesis 12:1-7

This shows another one of those moments of faith that I just can't help but marvel at. God just decided one day to tell Abram to leave everything he knew behind. And just like that, Abram said "okay" and did as he was told. No questions, no second thoughts, quite simply he followed God's direction even though he didn't know where or why. That is astounding to me, and almost irrational on the part of Abram. I have to be honest, I wonder if I'd be so willing and so obedient. I read things in the Bible quite often that speak to me, that I can apply to myself and my life. But to have God just flat out tell me that I'm to pack my family up and go would be a bit hard to swallow. I have wondered at times if that type of thing will happen to us at some point. Yet it did to Abram. And not only did he say okay God, but his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot also said, "okay, we'll go too."

It's no wonder that God found favor with Abram. He knew that Abram would be willing to go where he told him, and so he blessed him. He blessed him in a big way, declaring that every single person on earth would be blessed through him. And of course, we all have been, as we see later on in the Bible that Jesus descended from Abram, and Jesus has blessed each and every one of us by giving up his life for us. It doesn't get any greater than that!

So knowing those two things- that God said go and Abram said yes, and that Jesus gave us the greatest blessing ever, could I possibly take a lesson and be more like Abram? I know I've said before that Andy and I were willing. If God told us to go, he'd provide the means and we would go wherever he asked us to. But if the moment actually came...if Andy came home from work and told me that God told him to take us elsewhere, would we do it? Would we just do as asked, no questioning, no complaining. Would we have a willing heart and offer everything in that moment? I like to think that we would.

Abram took God's new beginning for him and ran with it. I'm looking forward to the next few days and seeing how Abram's faith in God remains steadfast.