A world-shaping moment
In Genesis 12:1-9 we read about the call of Abram, later known as Abraham. This is a world-shaping moment: Abraham is recognised and honoured as the father of the two largest faith groups in the world, as well as the father of the Jewish people – a legacy unparallelled in human history.
Look at the extraordinary promises God makes: six times the Lord says “I will”. Abram’s will is revealed in his response: he simply goes, “as the Lord had told him.” The Lord says “Go” and so we are told that Abraham “went,” he “set out” and he worshipped, building altars to the Lord wherever he stopped to rest, a pattern of simple obedience that would continue throughout his life. Even with the great scope of the Lord’s promises Abram surely never knew the influence his simple and whole-hearted obedience was to have throughout the nations of the earth, generation after generation – an unfathomable ripple effect that will surely continue until the Lord Jesus returns.
All of these “I will” promises spoken by the Lord stand in contrast to another “I will” list, found in Isaiah 14: here the prophet sees the angel Lucifer declaring that he will ascend into heaven, exalt his throne, sit on the mount of congregation, ascend above the heights of the clouds and ultimately be like the Most High. These five “I will” declarations reveal the prideful ambition which has fuelled every sinful and selfish action and strategy in the earth, causing the fall of angels and men. And yet the fruit of this ambition – the fruit of a soul that cries “I will!” and ‘my will!’ before the living God – is emptiness and utter destruction: Lucifer, this powerful, once glorious celestial being, the one “who weakened the nations” and “leads the whole world astray” will be brought to nothing.
The Lord’s call and promises to Abram were ultimately and forever fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, King of the Jews and King of all Kings. And in Jesus the examples of Abram’s selfless obedience and Lucifer’s selfish ambition reveal the astonishing choice that lies before every human being every day of our lives. Which will you choose, and how will you live? When He calls will you leave everything to follow His voice and steps? If you do then His promises will unfold with unstoppable grace: you will strengthen others, redeem the lost, you will even shake nations and raise the dead as you lay down your own will and life in favour of His. But those that resist Him and instead to cling to their own will and way choose a life of emptiness and destruction. It is that simple, that important and that stark a choice. Lord help us today to choose the way of Abraham. Choose Jesus, over and over; listen for His voice and do all that He calls you to do. You will bless and be blessed beyond anything you could ask or imagine.
- Akhtar Shah
Look at the extraordinary promises God makes: six times the Lord says “I will”. Abram’s will is revealed in his response: he simply goes, “as the Lord had told him.” The Lord says “Go” and so we are told that Abraham “went,” he “set out” and he worshipped, building altars to the Lord wherever he stopped to rest, a pattern of simple obedience that would continue throughout his life. Even with the great scope of the Lord’s promises Abram surely never knew the influence his simple and whole-hearted obedience was to have throughout the nations of the earth, generation after generation – an unfathomable ripple effect that will surely continue until the Lord Jesus returns.
All of these “I will” promises spoken by the Lord stand in contrast to another “I will” list, found in Isaiah 14: here the prophet sees the angel Lucifer declaring that he will ascend into heaven, exalt his throne, sit on the mount of congregation, ascend above the heights of the clouds and ultimately be like the Most High. These five “I will” declarations reveal the prideful ambition which has fuelled every sinful and selfish action and strategy in the earth, causing the fall of angels and men. And yet the fruit of this ambition – the fruit of a soul that cries “I will!” and ‘my will!’ before the living God – is emptiness and utter destruction: Lucifer, this powerful, once glorious celestial being, the one “who weakened the nations” and “leads the whole world astray” will be brought to nothing.
The Lord’s call and promises to Abram were ultimately and forever fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, King of the Jews and King of all Kings. And in Jesus the examples of Abram’s selfless obedience and Lucifer’s selfish ambition reveal the astonishing choice that lies before every human being every day of our lives. Which will you choose, and how will you live? When He calls will you leave everything to follow His voice and steps? If you do then His promises will unfold with unstoppable grace: you will strengthen others, redeem the lost, you will even shake nations and raise the dead as you lay down your own will and life in favour of His. But those that resist Him and instead to cling to their own will and way choose a life of emptiness and destruction. It is that simple, that important and that stark a choice. Lord help us today to choose the way of Abraham. Choose Jesus, over and over; listen for His voice and do all that He calls you to do. You will bless and be blessed beyond anything you could ask or imagine.
- Akhtar Shah
2 Comments
Yes Lord!!! Thank you for your promises. Help me to obey and "go" when you command, even when I don't have the full pictures yet. Sharpen my ears to hear you clearly. Your word is enough for me to go! Hallelujah!!!
Thank you Lord . Help me to say” I will” to all that you say and open my ears and heart so that I can hear you.
Amen
Thank you Akhtar for this message