This is the story of ultimate faith, though to be fair I
imagine the opportunity for advancement was limited for Semitic septuagenarians
in the land of the Chaldeans. Even so it took a leap of faith for Abram to go
home and tell Sari to pack the bags and load the camel because God told him he
was destined for favored nation status in a “God only knows where” land. So
while it is the promised pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that makes the
offer tempting it is ultimately Abraham’s trust that God can deliver the goods that gets
him to leave the center of civilization to wander in the wilderness. Whether Abraham
knew it or not God blessed him to be a blessing (even with the caveat about the
cursed) since “all peoples will be blessed” would not be “all” without everyone
being included. When you read the rest of the Abraham story his trust was less
than trustworthy and he did as much maneuvering as faithful following. Of
course we do the same and before leaving country, people and home we generally “trust
but verify”. In the very end Abraham put his trust where his heart was when with
the seed of the promise on the altar of sacrifice and his hand raised to do the
unthinkable God intervened and spared the only son. For us it is not a ram but
the God of promises who is caught like a ram in the thicket on Calvary’s hill and the only
Son not spared is cursed so that we might be blessed to be a blessing.
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