Where He Leads, I Will Follow Series

One of the lost treasures of the Christian church is the home thanksgiving meeting, a gathering I eagerly awaited for when I was a young believer. A home thanksgiving meeting was an occasional home fellowship whereby the hosts invited their friends, relatives and church members to share in the blessings of a special event, usually over the birth of a child, the purchase of a new home, or the celebration of a wedding anniversary. The host family would borrow 30-40 chairs from their neighbors, friends, or church for the happy occasion.

The designated song-leader began the meeting by leading everyone present in singing, followed by the host’s testimony about how God had blessed the family, and a short message by the pastor or a church elder on the importance of thanksgiving in a believer’s life. The best part of the gathering was the last part of the program, where lots of food were served!

Testifying to others is to tell others who we were before accepting Christ, what Christ has done for us, and how are we different from before.

Like my church, churches today should set aside a few Sundays in the year for members to share their salvation testimony. The atmosphere, I have discovered, is usually electric, the effect upon the speaker and congregation is powerful, and the benefit to the church is immeasurable.

The watershed of Abram’s sojourn in Canaan was his consistent testimony to others by erecting altars wherever he went.

Abram built an altar in Shechem (12:7), another between Bethel and Ai (12:8), and other places like Hebron (Gen 13:18), and Mount Moriah (Gen 22:9). Noah (Gen 8:20) and Isaac (Gen 26:25) both built an altar in their lifetime, and Jacob two (Gen 33:20, 35:7), but Abram erected as many altars as all of them together.

Altars were meaningful, important, and functional to Abram because they were personal worship markers, public witness markers, and practical whereabouts markers.

Worship was a big part of Abram’s life-- in his first travel, and up to the last major account of his life (Gen 22:9). Abram called on the name of the Lord (Gen 12:8; 13:4).

The altars were also public witness markers which were an eyesore to the inhabitants of the land. Abram ascribed an altar to the name of the Lord (12:7) and called on His name without pretense, hesitation, or fear (12:7). The inscriptions, words, and the location were loud, unmistakable, and pointed to the Cannanites.

Finally, the altars were practical whereabouts markers for the next generation. Abram’s grandson Jacob returned from Haran and built an altar at Shechem (Gen 33:18-20), the same place where Abram had built the first altar (12:6-7). Jacob even settled there for a while after his anxious reunion with his brother Esau until he had to move.

GO FORTH AND TELL THE TRUTH

10Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, `This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you." (Gen 12:10-13)