“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those that bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'” – Genesis 12:1-3
God’s love for us and pursuit of us is consistent in our story. He continues to reach out to us, but sometimes it’s hard to wrap our minds around something so big and so magnificent. To believe in a God that is holy, all powerful, and above all things, can be overwhelming. So…throughout our story, we find that God continually raises up those who will share His love in ways that we can understand.
In today’s Scripture, we find the call of Abram. A man who knew the story and had a grasp on the foundations that were established from the “beginning”. The Bible is filled with examples of God using people to communicate His love to His created ones. In other words, He puts His message in a container that we can handle. He puts it on the bottom shelf so we can reach it. Accessible…something our size…another human.
God continues this from cover to cover in His Word and even today. He speaks the Gospel…the Good News that He loves us…through people who know the story. The recruitment of Abram reveals to us that God is committed to get His point across in words that we can hear and hands that we can see. This is more than the beginning of a nation (Israel) it is God “making it real”. He is getting down on our level…looking at us eye to eye…speaking our language and saying “I want to bless you!”
This is God’s way. We will be seeing this over and over again in our Lenten review of the One story. At every turn we find illustrations of God’s mercy and grace. People being transformed by the Truth of the story and then brought into the story by telling it…and so on…and so on. Therefore, we are all called to be God’s sorytellers. Like Abram, God has issued us the invitation to be a part of spreading the Good News…to be a blessing.
This, however, does require a decision…an answer. It’s something that requires belief and trust. In the case of Abram, he is asked to leave what he knows to step out. He is asked to trust and obey. To go on to something greater. It is a matter of being willing to do whatever God directs you to do. The Book of Hebrews describes this moment for Abram like this:
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. He went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he went…for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” – Hebrews 11:8-10.
So today, let us rejoice in the fact that God has spoken to us in a way that we can understand and continues to speak to us. Let us also consider that God has given us the privilege to participate in telling this wonderful story and that this responsibity will require us to follow His lead…to trust Him with the details…to believe in His ability to take care of us…to have faith enough to step out and become what we were created to be. Will you answer the call today?
You can be a part of the story.