Hearing to obey

As I was thinking about writing this blog article, was racking my brain on what would be a good series that will be informative, interesting and keep a momentum going for the rest of the year! Let’s start with a great hero Abraham, the father of faith and the father of nations. Chapter 12 begins by saying how the Lord tells Abram to get out of his country, his kindred and his father’s house to a land that will be shown to him. There were some blessings to follow – Lord will make of him a great nation, make his name great and he will be a blessing. The command was straightforward though not easy! Imagine Abraham packing up his belongings and having to tell his family that he is leaving but doesn’t know where he is headed! Most times in the past when I read this portion I always focused on Abrahams’s obedience, since the very next verse 4 says “So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him:

Read that verse again and like me maybe you are wondering why is Lot going with him? Wasn’t Abram supposed to leave his kindred behind? The bible doesn’t state what exactly happened – if it was Abram who asked Lot his nephew to tag along since he didn’t have a father and probably Abram and Sarai doted on him as their own child or if Lot convinced them to let him join along on their journey. Either way this opened up this scripture in a whole new light of “partial obedience” Yes, he left his country, his father’s house but did not leave his kindred behind! God was gracious and appeared to him and promised while he was in the plain of Moreh that He will give that land to Abrams’s seed. He was being blessed with cattle, silver and gold. But there arose a situation due to which Abram asked Lot to go his separate way. Chapter 13:14 states that the Lord spoke to Abram right after Lot separated from him “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

¹⁵ For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. ¹⁶ And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. ¹⁷ Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

God was able to fulfill the promise of showing him the land promised to him and the blessing of a seed thereafter in Chapter 15 only after Abram obeyed completely!