Saddle Up!

April 8, 2001

Genesis 12.1 ¡V 13.4

1Then the LORD told Abram,

¡§Leave your country, your relatives, and your father¡¦s house, and go to the land that I will show you.

Genesis 12:1 (NLT)

Some fear is healthy. Starbuck in Moby Dick said to his prospective crew: I¡¦ll have no man in my boat who is not afraid of a whale!

There¡¦s fear, and then there is fear. The 82nd Airborne Rangers train at Fort Bragg, NC. The division commanding general was inspecting, and as he reviewed the ranks of paratroop trainees he carefully scrutinized one West Virginia recruit standing proudly at attention, jump wings and boots shined to perfection. The general spotted a loose thread and scowled, Trooper, your fatigue jacket is frayed. The young private shot back, Sir¡Kbeggin¡¦ yer pardon, sir ¡V but this here airborne jacket ain¡¦t ¡¥fraid a-nothin¡¦¡K.SIR! -1-

Some fear isn¡¦t so healthy. Nelson Price had a short football career. One night in a college game he scooped up a fumble and looked down the field at 95 open yards. He ran with all his heart.

Price looked over his shoulder to see if he was being pursued; there was nothing but his own shadow. He glanced back over the other shoulder and saw another shadow. Knowing he was about to be tackled, he cut left, then right, swerving and dodging with his best moves all 95 yards to the end zone! When he looked back, there wasn¡¦t a player within 50 yards.

The lights on both sides of the stadium had cast a shadow on both sides of Nelson Price. He had put his best moves on his own shadow! -2-

It could have been that way for Abraham in the waning moments of the early morning darkness. Abraham could have seen lots of shadows when that voice first spoke to him.

1Then the LORD told Abram, ¡§Leave your country, your relatives, and your father¡¦s house, and go to the land that I will show you. Genesis 12:1 (NLT)

God had something great in store for Abraham and his descendants. It all started with a man who was obedient to listen to that urging of God to Saddle-Up!

How do you feel about trail blazing? What if God called you to leave the comfort and security of¡K

Your country,

Your family

Your father¡¦s house,

Your cousins and uncles,

Grandma and grandpa,

Your smooth roads,

Your huge shopping malls,

Your McDonalds,

Your Pizza Hut,

Your Satellite TV with 400 channels,

Your showers with water pressure,

Your microwave ovens,

Your efficient mail delivery system,

Your honest police officers,

Your democratic political systems,

Your lucrative business opportunities,

Your plush carpets,

Your padded pews,

Your multimillion dollar building projects,

Get out!

Leave it!

Go! -3-

Suppose you got a phone call from NASA. You¡¦ve been chosen to live in the space station¡Kyour task is to saddle-up and go on a great adventure, different than anything you¡¦ve known. Well, what would you do?

IF you¡¦re like me, you would probably say,

But, I am not made to live in space,

But, it¡¦s dangerous ¡V people have died in space,

But, I like it here,

But¡K..But¡K.But¡K.

Has God ever shown you the road to the Great Adventure? Saddle up and come along on the road with Abraham:

It¡¦s a Road God Shows

1Then the LORD told Abram,

¡§Leave your country, your relatives, and your father¡¦s house, and go to the land that I will show you.

Genesis 12:1 (NLT)

In your life, either you lead, or God leads. In the sixth grade (long before Mrs. Preacher came along), some girl tried to teach me to dance. She kept saying, No, let me show you this way¡K I kept saying, But I¡¦M the boy ¡V I lead!

Well, I never did learn to dance very well ¡V and most of the times I¡¦ve messed it up in life were the times I wanted to get away from God¡¦s leading in my life.

It¡¦s a Road Away from the Familiar

1Then the LORD told Abram, ¡§Leave your country, your relatives, and your father¡¦s house, and go to the land that I will show you. Genesis 12:1 (NLT)

Abraham lived a settled, safe life in Ur. His family was prominent and rich. Life was very good! What God called him to was the life of a nomad ¡V no home, no guaranteed water stops in the desert, no protection from scavenging thieves.

What he could count on was sand in everything as they moved about the desert ¡V sand in their eyes, sand up the nose, sand in hair, teeth and grits! And that unfamiliar sand out there would provide plenty of shadows ¡V the unknowns!

Most of the things we fear in life are those things we have never faced ¡V or will ever face. We hold back! I wanted to stay in the second grade. Ms. Tufano was my first love. She smelled good, and man she was pretty. I liked the second grade. The only reason I went to the third grade is Ms. Tufano became Mrs. Richardson just before second grade ended. Imagine that! I had told her I¡¦d marry her ¡V she didn¡¦t need some guy named Richardson! But she wouldn¡¦t wait! Imagine!