INTRODUCTION
We have all heard the term “The Christian Walk” used in conversation at different times. It refers to an individual’s personal, spiritual journey. Many times we have false expectations of what the “Christian Walk” should be like. Many times we believe that it should be free from troubles and difficulties. Some think that it is dull, boring and mundane. That can’t be further from the truth. The Christian Walk is really a Journey Into the Unknown. Today we will take a look at our Christian Walk, our Journey, in the light of Abram’s walk with God.
Gen 12:1-9 (NIV)
12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
I. The Journey Begins with God
This text and Abram’s journey begin with the phrase, “The Lord said…”. Abram’s journey, your spiritual journey or Christian walk, and my Christian walk all begin with God just as all things from the beginning of creation began with God. Genesis 1:1 starts off with “In the beginning God …”. Everything has God as its origin because in the beginning nothing existed except for God.
a. “The Lord said”
It is significant that Abram’s spiritual journey begins with the phrase “The Lord said” because it is God revealing part of his plan of redeeming his people that turned away from Him in the Garden of Eden. It is God’s plan and mission being revealed to Abram. It is not Abram deciding to do something for God or on God’s behalf. This is not Abram’s plan or idea it is God’s. You can usually tell the difference between God’s plan and our plan. Our plan seems very achievable in our own eyes. It looks like something we can accomplish and usually without God’s supernatural help. God’s plans require us to believe in God’s sovereignty, his authority over all things. God’s plans require us to trust Him to accomplish those things that we cannot accomplish in and of ourselves.
b. “I will …”
Another key phrase that God uses is “I will”. These two little words, “I will”, convey to us the idea that God has an active role in His plan and our lives. God was active in the beginning in the act of creation and He is still active in our lives today.
Our Christian walk begins with God as He calls each of us to a personal relationship with Him through the sacrifice, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God pursues us even when we do not pursue Him. He pursued us from the beginning of time It is through Christ that we receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life. It is through Christ that our personal relationship with our Lord, Master, Savior and Creator is restored. It is through Christ that our Christian walk, our life of faith begins.
II. The Journey Requires Steadfast Faith
vs. 1: The Lord gives specific directions. He only gives us what we need to know to accomplish His will. (Faith is required)
a. Abram was told to leave his family and country. This was a very family oriented society. It was uncommon to leave everything and everyone behind. Abram was required to have faith in God rather than himself. He was required to make his relationship with God his number one priority, more important even than his relationship with his wife.
b. Notice that God did not tell Abram where he was supposed to go. Hebrews 11:8-10 says:
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Abram was steadfastly focused upon God and his eternal home in Heaven. This was the same focus the Apostle John had when he was boiled in a cauldron of oil from which he was miraculously saved prior to being banished to the island of Patmos. This was the same focus that Jim Elliot and four other missionaries had before they were killed by the Waodoni tribe who they were trying to evangelize. It is the same steadfast focus and faith you and I need to have to run the race marked out for us.
III. The Journey Continues through Relationship
vs. 2 – 3: God gives a promise to Abram. This is not a bribe. It is a statement of fact of what will occur if Abram chooses to follow God’s plan for his life.
a. Promise #1 (vs. 2) – God promises to do something God-sized in Abram’s life and through Abram’s life. God promises to bless Abram beyond anything Abram could ever imagine for himself and he promises to make Abram a blessing to others.
b. Promise #2 (vs. 3) – God promises to be with Abram and reaffirms that Abram will be a blessing to others.
c. Attributes of the promise:
i. God’s promises always go beyond the immediate circumstance. His promises occur over expanses of time. God did not tell Abram when all these things would come to pass.
ii. God’s promises are not only for the benefit of the person receiving the statement of promise. You and I are recipients of Abram’s faith and the promises poured out. Our children and their children are impacted by the way we live out our faith and the way we trust God and His promises.
God’s word is loaded with promises for you and me. He promises repeatedly to never leave us nor forsake us. He promises that whoever trusts in His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, will be saved. He promises that He will never give us more than we can bear. He promises that if we seek Him with our whole heart we will find Him. He promises to give us peace, grace and mercy. He promises to make known to others His glorious riches which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
239. Count The Promises
Two little girls were counting their pennies. One said, "I have five pennies." The other said, "I have ten." "No," said the first little girl, "You have just five cents, the same as I." "But," the second child quickly replied, "my father said when he comes home tonight he would give me five cents, and so I have ten cents." This little girl counted the pennies her father promised
her. We need to take our heavenly Father at His word in the same way, counting His promises as ours.
IV. The Journey Requires Action
vs. 4 – 9: Abram obeys.
a. vs. 4-5: Abram does exactly what God told him to do. It was not easy but he made it. Abram completed the race the Lord laid out for him.
347. Faith and Works
An old boatman painted the word "faith" on one oar of his boat and "works" on the other. He was asked his reason for this. In answer, he slipped the oar with "faith" into the water and rowed. The boat, of course, made a very tight circle. Returning to the dock, the boatman then said, "Now, let’s try ’works’ without ’faith’ and see what happens." The oar marked "works" was put in place and the boatman began rowing with just the "works" oar. Again the boat went into a tight circle but in the opposite direction.
When the boatman again returned to the wharf, he interpreted his experiment in these strong and convincing words, "You see, to make a passage across the lake, one needs both oars working simultaneously in order to keep the boat in a straight and narrow way. If one does not have the use of both oars, he makes no progress either across the lake nor as a Christian
(from A Treasury of Bible Illustrations Copyright © 1995, 1998 by AMG International, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.)
b. vs. 6-9: Abram celebrated God’s presence in his life and God’s blessings.
i. vs. 6-7: Abram builds an altar at the tree of Moreh at Shechem.
ii. vs. 8-9: Abram builds an altar at Bethel.
Conclusion
As I close I would like to refer back to Heb 11:8-10
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Your home is not Afghanistan, you are passing through. Your home is not Alabama, you are passing through. Your home is not on this earth therefore we should be looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Our Journey into the Unknown or our Christian walk begins with God, requires steadfast faith, continues through relationship and requires action.
May the Lord bless you and your family as you walk with Him all the days of your life.
