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November 27, 2024
- By Ed Powell
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"So Abram left, as the LORD had told him."
Genesis 12:4
The call of God to Abram was indeed unique in every way. Abram had come from an idolatrous background and never had the spiritual opportunities of a child whose parents were dedicated to God. There wasn't anything unusual about Abram that qualified him to be chosen to become a man of God. He was not deserving of God, nor did he seek the calling God gave to him. Yet in God's divine providence, He chooses Abram to be the great "man of faith" that he became.
In Haran, Abram received his call from God. What an unusual call it was. God said, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land that I will show you." Then God made a covenant with Abram, which was in itself unique. "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. I will bless those that bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:1-3).
How would you respond to such a call? We read, "So Abram left." No questions, no debating, no hesitancy, Abram simply "obeyed God" and started out on a journey on which he had no idea where he was going. You might say, "He was crazy to do such a thing. After all, he had friends, a home, security, and everything to encourage him where he was. Why leave it all to go who knows where? He could have served God where he was." But God had other plans for Abram that were not limited to time and sense. It all depended on whether Abram would walk in unwavering faith in Almighty God.
We may not be asked to exercise such faith as Abram, but God does expect us to follow His leading in the same manner. Why do we have such difficulty in following the Lord's leading whenever He wants us to be used in some particular manner? We often say, "I need to pray about that." Or, "I need to talk to the pastor." When we walk with the Lord, we should be prayed up, confessed up, sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading and ready to respond to His leading. There should be such a willingness and desire to do all He bids us do that we will respond as Abram, "So he left!"
What causes us to have such "complacent reservation"? I'm afraid we are often found "walking after the flesh" where God is not the priority in all things. There may be pride that tugs at our heart to respond in doubt and an unwilling spirit. There may be an unforgiving spirit that lurks within, that hinders the Holy Spirit from flowing freely within us. Whatever the cause, to hesitate in any way from following the Lord with abandoned faith, is to lose out in all God wants to do in and through you. Self needs to be replaced with the enthronement of God in our hearts. Only then will we "walk after the Spirit" and have an effective and fruitful life. This takes a dying to self and all of its devastating tentacles that hinder a "walk of faith" that is glorifying to God.
The more we are "clothed with Christ" the less will be the weights that encumber us, and "the sin that so easily besets us" (Hebrews 12:1). O, that that we might have a hunger and thirst that Christ be Lord in every phase of our life. "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite spirit" (Isaiah 57:15). May this be our destiny. We then will respond without hesitation and without question to His leading, even as Abram. To become nothing before God opens our hearts to the invasion of His being our all!
© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission.
This page was reprinted by permission from: http://litmin.org/dare.php?date=2024-11-27
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