ABRAHAM’S CALL TO PIONEER

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went – Hebrews 11:8

May I commend to you the reading of the story of the man who, in faith, was called out of Ur of the Chaldees to found a nation. Who in faith found that he could trust God to plan his life, and lead him step by step. Who found that even his mistakes could be used of God when he repented and consecrated them to the matchless hands that can weave beauty out of ugliness. By faith Abraham stepped out, abandoned much, found much more, and built that nation which, under God, was the people of God’s choice; through whom the Bible came, through whom Christ was born, and through whom we won salvation. – E.M. Blaiklock

The man God chose to be the founding a father of the nation through which He would bless the whole world, could be no ordinary man. The man who is claimed and acclaimed equally by Christianity and Judaism and Islam must have been of unusual stature. He who was to be known as father of the faithful, the supreme exemplar of unquestioning faith in God, must be subjected to uncommon disciplines.

If the tests imposed upon Abraham in the course of his spiritual training seem harsh or severe, the tremendous issues at stake and the happy outcome are their justification. God staked His whole plan of redemption on the possibility of a man being willing by his faith and obedience to become a bridge-head for the deliverance of an erring world. In Abraham He found such a man. With infinite patience and care God shaped and disciplines His instrument until he reached a pinnacle of spiritual experience which won for him the distinction of being the friend of God. So important a role does he occupy in God’s world-purpose, that his life and its lessons occupy third place in the New Testament, his name occurring no fewer than seventy-four times…

Every spiritual biography begins with a call from God, a communication of His sovereign choice. In some was not revealed to us but unmistakably clear to Abraham, God spoke to him. The record sheds no light on the means by which the knowledge of the true and living God came to him in the midst of the prevailing idolatry, but he knew God had spoken, calling him to a lifetime of separation from the old life…In order to achieve His purpose of blessing for mankind, God had planned to call out and preserve in one nation of the human family, faith in Himself. That nation must spring from a single man. That man was Abraham. We rejoice today in the blessing of the gospel because he was faithful to Him who called him.”