Get up, and go...

Greetings! This morning I am excited to share a God-thought that sprang to life in my mind, a thought about Abraham, about faith, and about our journey with God.

A theme I like to highlight often in my Sunday School is that the Bible has layered depths. A single verse or passage of scripture, or even an entire testament of the Bible, can carry multiple meanings and messages, each one valid, each one powerful, each one pertinent.

Today I’d like to look at the story of Abraham, who was called of God to follow Him blindly. “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (this from Genesis 12, first three verses, KJV)

In today’s language, “get up, leave your house, your neighborhood, your schools, your job, your friends, leave it all, and go. I will show you the way later.”

The verse following this command/request of God is just, awesome. Staggering, awesome. “So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”

In the book of Hebrews, Paul says this about Abraham: “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” (this is from Hebrews chapter 11, verse 8, KJV)

He didn’t know where he was going.

But let’s look back at the promise God made in the request, “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Abraham didn’t have a roadmap or a destination, but he had the promise. I’ll capitalize it, The Promise.

All right, back to the overall point; the layer of this scripture I’d like to snap in to today is the biblical layer of “how does this apply to my life?”. First thing is, when we begin a faith journey with God, at some point He makes the request, “Get out of thy country….” I don’t mean this in the pack-your-bags-and-leave-town way, but, spiritually, it very much means leave-your-old-life-and-habits-we-are-not-going-to-live-that-way-anymore. Get out. Don’t look back. Leave your sin, your doubting, your bad habits, bad associations. Get out. Walk away from your addictions, your idols. Get out.

Ok, so then what. Then you’ve got to GO. Go where? Go wherever God shows you. And this strikes at a fundamental truth of our faith journey with God that, honestly, a lot of folks seem to miss. You might not have the privilege of knowing the destination. But go with God anyways. Go, trusting that He will lead in the right direction. We might not know the path we will take, but like Abraham, we have The Promise.

Be encouraged friend, trust God, follow where He leads.

Another layer I’d like to highlight for you is in the theological vein. On the faith journey, the follower of God must pass through a few gates. One of these is the first work of grace; Conversion.

Conversion means, in a simple term, “to turn around”. It is part and parcel with seeking God’s forgiveness. When we decide we are done with our old life, our old ways, then we have to come face to face with the fact that we have rebelled and sinned against what is good and what is right, which brings us into confrontation with God, the righteous judge. To leave our past behind and begin a new life of righteousness and truth, we have to deal with our sins, and the only way to do so is to seek God’s forgiveness. We are asking for mercy when it is not deserved, but because Jesus Christ was willing to endure the punishment of the cross for our sins, God will graciously forgive when we repent.

This is called the first work of grace because it is an action, a divine work, that God Himself does on our soul. We repent. He forgives. And the moment we are forgiven, we are then free from our past, free from the chains and torment of our guilt and sin. This, all together, the turning away from our old life, the turning to a new life in God, the repentance, the forgiveness, the freedom, this is Conversion. Just like Abraham had to “get out”, we must also.

And just like Abraham had to “go”, we must also go. The second work of grace is another gate that the follower of God must walk through. It is not enough to turn away from our old life. The soldier has to “about-face”, but unless he follows the order to “march”, then he will not continue to be a soldier much longer. After Conversion, we must be Sanctified. In Sanctification, we receive God’s Holy Spirit in replacement of our old carnal nature, the nature we are born with. Similiarly to Conversion, in which when we repent, God forgives; so in Sanctification, when we surrender our will to God, and commit to go wherever He says go, God will sanctify.

Now that the believer is Sanctified, He is equipped to walk wherever God will lead! He has a lifetime journey awaiting ahead, with no sure destinations, but The Promise.

Be encouraged friends, God is on the giving hand. He will supply all our needs, according to His riches in glory. If you are unsure of where you are in your faith journey, I recommend you bend your knee in prayer, and ask your Heavenly Father to reveal to you the next step He has for you to take. He knows where you are, and where He wants you to go. Trust Him. He has a bright future for each one.