Genesis 12: 1 But the LORD had said to Abram, Go out of your land and your kindred, and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you.
In Genesis 12: 1 God's call to Abraham is narrated: But the Lord had said to Abram, "Get out of your land and your relatives, and from your father's house, into the land that I will show you.
In light of this verse, Abraham's calling has two implications, the first is separation and the second is direction, let's study each one.
Separation. Leave your land and your family and your father's house, implies separation, what does this mean? That many times, if not all, when God calls a person and draws a plan of life, the first thing he will ask is that he leave something behind.
After God gave the dream to Joseph, the first thing he did was take him out of his house and take him to Egypt, the same thing happened with Moses and Jesus when they were moved to the desert.
Why does God move someone after he calls him? Because the word of promise that has received requires that the person receive certain training. That is why he moves because the place where he is does not help his training.
Let's look at the case of Mary, Luke 1:35 In those days, when Mary rose, she hurried to the mountain, to a city of Judah; 40Y he entered the house of Zacarías, and greeted Elisabet. 41And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the creature leaped into her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42and she cried out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43Why is this granted to me, may the mother of my Lord come to me? 44Because as soon as the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the baby leapt for joy in my belly. 45Blessed is she who believed, because what was spoken to her from the Lord will be fulfilled.
As soon as Mary received the Word of the angel and it was found that she was pregnant, she did something that does not seem very sensible for a woman in her condition, that is to say for someone who barely has a pregnancy. The vs 39 says: In those days, rising Mary, went quickly to the mountain, to a city of Judah.
There are two logical reasons why Mary should not have made that trip, Firstly for the lejura, since in the Biblical period Israel had only three provinces: Galilee in the north, Samaria in the center and Judea in the south, Maria had to travel from Nazareth of Galilee in the north to a city of Judea in the south, that is, had to travel the whole country.
And second because Elizabeth's house was on the mountain, and if climbing stairs is forbidden to a pregnant woman, it is more forbidden to climb a mountain.
It is clearly known that a pregnant woman should stop doing certain physical activities because of the risk of an abortion, and especially in the first three months that are the most risky, and Maria had just days of pregnancy, plus the vs 39 says that Maria hurried, that is to say that it is very possible that she ran.
The question is: What made Maria act in this way, to the point of touring the whole country and even climbing a mountain? I think the answer is also logical, what was in her womb was a miracle that would soon be born, it was what would make her a great woman, what came in her womb brought her greatness and her exaltation but for that she had to be trained.
Who trained Maria? Elizabeth, why? Because she, like Mary, was also the bearer of another miracle, the prophet John who was in her womb, only those who show faith and patience in the promises can train others to believe and wait for them, that is why God moved Mary and also to Abraham. Did you know that only one diamond can cut another diamond?
Address. The second thing that Abraham's call implies is the direction. God also told Abraham, go to the land that I will show you, Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans to be trained by God in the desert, but he left without knowing where he was going.
Notice this, in the natural Abraham did not know where God was taking him, but in the spiritual he walked safe, why? because God guided him in a supernatural way, so that he never felt lost.
Every person who has a call from God like Abraham must be led by the Lord, if that is not given, even when he is serving in the work, he will be lost in the way, he will believe that he is following the Lord, because of the fact who is doing God's work, but in reality he is lost, because he has no direction.
A man without direction, will be able to make many plans, he will be able to elaborate projects, and he will be able to have all the good will of the world, but if God does not direct it, all his plans will only be that plans, they will not be realized, because God is not in it .
Go to the land that I will show you, it means, that God should show you every step of the way, if you have a call do not follow emotional impulses, nor the preferences of your heart, let God mark the road map in you.
Listen, like when the cloud in the desert moved, the town had to move and when it stopped the town had to stop, in the same way do not you dare to walk if the cloud has stopped, but do not you dare to stop if she is moving.
Your Faith and Obedience Now let's study the faith and obedience of Abraham. First we must say that the true faith is that which obeys, that is why the Bible says that faith without works is dead, because if faith does not lead you to obedience, it is not spiritual faith, but natural and carnal.
Abraham had only one mandate from God, he had no explicit orders, no details about the journey but decided to believe God and obeyed, today we have so much light of the Word and so much revelation of it, but our faith leaves much to be desired . It seems that the more knowledge of the word of God we become less obedient.
It is that obedience to God is not the result of greater knowledge, but how much will we have to obey what we know of God, be it little or much, that is why the faith that pleases God, is the one that obeys and not only the Who knows.
When we put in obedience what little we know of our God, then we receive grace from God to know more, so the true faith does not expect to know much to just obey, she obeys as soon as it is born.
So true is this, that the Bible says that when Jesus was here on earth, the two cases of faith that Jesus praised were not of people who knew the Word, but of Gentiles like the Canaanite whom he treated as a little dog and the Roman centurion. who told him he was not worthy of Jesus entering his house.
It is obedience to the Word and not the knowledge of it that makes me a man of faith, Abraham had just been revealed to God and God already asked him to leave everything and follow him, but Abraham believed God and He did not answer a word, but always manifested an obedient faith, that is why his obedience was counted for justice.
Listen, today we have people in our churches who have accumulated thousands of hours of Bible learning, but their obedience is hardly measured in minutes and seconds.
It is not the number of years you have been studying the Bible that will make you a man of faith, but the time you dedicate to obey what you know about it.
It is obedience to the Word that makes you a man of faith, and Abraham became one that the bible calls his faith was counted for justice.