Hebrews 11:8-10 (ESV): “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
We are continuing our journey through the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 and today we are examining the faith of Abraham. As we have been surveying these faith heroes, we have been learning about what faith is and does to people. There is much we can learn from Abraham’s faith, but the primary thing Hebrews 11 focuses on is that Abraham’s faith is a faith that stirred him to trust God, and to obey God when he was called to leave his home.
Notice what the author of Hebrews says: By faith Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was going”.
Abraham’s faith called him from what was certain, what was known. God called him to leave the certainty and security of home, for a promise of something unseen. “A city that has foundations, whose designed and builder is God.”
Abraham did not see this future city of God, but he trusted in the promise that God would deliver. And that trust allowed Abraham to leave everything he had behind in order to follow God’s call on his life.
Friends, this is where faith becomes real. It may well be that God calls us to leave behind everything we have known in order to follow him. Faith in God, faith as a Christian is costly. Many a Christian has paid for their faith in Jesus by losing their families, their communities, their livelihoods, and even their lives.
All of us must at some point be confronted by the reality that being a Christian genuinely will cost us something.
Are you willing to pay the price?
Are you willing to leave everything behind to follow Jesus?
Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven, we know that it is an incredible privilege to be called your children. Thank you so much for the gift of faith. Please give us a big enough vision for what it means to be your child. Free our hearts to follow you, unencumbered by the goodies this world offers. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen
Spiritual Challenge:
Consider your life, think of one area where you are holding on to something that is preventing you from chasing Jesus with everything you have. Take a concrete step to get rid of it in order to pursue Jesus more fully.
Faith calls you to leave: Abraham