Leaving Ur: Part 2
In Genesis 12:1-3 God gave Abraham these instructions:
“The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
Abraham was given instruction. Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. The promise? I will make you into a great nation. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through you.
Leaving everything you hold dear to pursue a dream in your heart, or in this case, a promise from God, was not a foreign concept to Abraham. He had watched his father Terah do the very same thing. He watched his father pack up everything to pursue Canaan. Perhaps the most important lesson he gleaned from his father was this: You can’t reach Canaan without leaving Ur.
I think that is the problem with so many people today who are struggling to discover God’s will for their lives. They want the blessing without leaving Ur. They don’t want to have to abandon everything to follow God. They may move a little, like Terah, but ultimately, they settle not too far from where they started.
When God called out to Abraham, he called him to finish the journey that Terah started. The difference was that God gave Abraham, unlike Terah, a promise to hold onto. He didn’t give Abraham step-by-step directions on how to get where God was leading Him. He just gave Him a promise. Abraham would still have to put foot to sand every day and hold on to the promise God gave Him. There were times in Abraham’s journey all he had to hold onto was the promise God made him. The circumstances around him were not always favorable or reflect what God had told him. However, Abraham knew one thing:
The knowing is in who is doing the sending, not in our familiarity with the destination.
It wasn’t the destination that was as important to Abraham, as it was to knowing God had made him a promise. It didn’t happen quickly. If fact, when Abraham died, the only piece of ground he owned in Canaan was the cave he was buried in. That doesn’t sound like much of a promise. He went all that way only to purchase a grave plot. For Abraham, it wasn’t about finding Canaan, it was about obeying God. He was looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed by God.
“And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.”-Hebrews 11:9-10
Abraham didn’t care about leaving a legacy of wealth to his kids, he wanted to leave them a legacy of faith. They would certainly inherit his things, but more so he wanted them to inherit the promise. Abraham wouldn’t see it come to complete fulfillment, but his obedience brought them closer to it. Isaac didn’t fully see it, but his obedience would bring them closer to it. Jacob didn’t fully see it, but obedience would bring them closer to it. They passed on the promise from generation to generation.
When you look at the Kingdom of God today, it started with an idol worshipper in Ur, who left everything behind, took his family, and headed for Canaan.
Scott Burr