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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. Genesis 12:2
D.L. MOODY
There is no name in history so well known as the name of Abraham. The Muslims, the Persians, and the Egyptians make a great deal of Abraham. His name has been, for centuries and centuries, favorably known in Damascus. God promised him that great lineage through his offspring. Was there ever a nation that has turned out such men? Think of Elijah and Daniel and Isaiah, and all the other wonderful Bible characters that have sprung from this man! Then think of John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, and Paul—a mighty army. No one can number the multitude of wonderful men and women that have descended from this one man who was called out of the land of the Chaldeans. He probably was an unknown idolater when God called him; and yet, literally, God has fulfilled His promise that through him, He would bless all the nations of the Earth—all because he surrendered himself fully and wholly to let God bless him.
ERWIN LUTZER
We call Abraham our father but we do not inherit all the promises God gave him. For example, Christians are not promised the land whose boundaries God gave to Abraham’s physical descendants. But through Abraham, we are spiritually blessed; after all, Christ is the ultimate seed of Abraham. Thus, we are all the children of Abraham by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26, 29).
But Moody’s point is important for us today: God sovereignly called Abraham, but Abraham proved his calling by his obedience, even willing to slay his precious son, Isaac. God calls us, but we are expected to prove our calling through our surrender and obedience.
Let us ask God to show us what that obedience means for us today.
PRAYER
Father, you have called me. Let me rejoice in that calling and grant me the strength to prove that calling in all I do today.REFLECTION QUESTIONS
It was through the faithfulness of one man that God blessed the world. What comes to your mind when you think about God using you to advance His kingdom?
Abraham and the others listed above (save for Jesus) still sinned and were not faithful at all times to God, yet they repented, and God still used them. How have you allowed sinfulness to keep you from serving God?