Genesis 12:1-4a (NRSV)
Read Genesis 12:1-4a on biblegateway.com
Chapter 12Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. Verse 2I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. Verse 3I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Verse 4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Devotion
Faith is exceedingly inconvenient. It never lets us stay put. When we heed the call of the Holy Spirit, we are pulled out of our old ways and into something new—new places, new relationships, new visions, new work, new life. Abraham's new story begins with a single word from God: Go! Go from your home and your family and everything you have ever known, trusting that I have something greater in store for you! It's a terrifying, absurd proposal. But he listens anyway. All of history hinges on this decision—he gets up and goes when God tells him to go. His faith permits him to let go of the present and live into the promise, and so he becomes a blessing to the whole world. When we follow our faith into new places, we too can be a blessing to others. We just have to be willing to listen when God speaks and calls us.
Prayer
Lord, give us the courage to listen to your call and follow where you lead. Amen.