The First Man without a Country
18/02/07 20:40
“By
faith Abraham, when called to a place he would later
receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even
though he did not know where he was going. By faith
he made his home in the promised land like a stranger
in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac
and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same
promise. For he was looking forward to the city with
foundations, whose architect and builder is
God.”
I was asked to leave my parents home. Don’t blame them. If you would have lived with me back then, you would have asked me to leave too. I was asked to leave my brother’s and his wife’s home just a year later. Don’t blame them… well, they might have been partly to blame. But, no matter how you look at it, in the late spring of 1976, I was roaming the back roads of Guernsey County in a 1967 Ford Maverick. In a Maverick –how ironic! I felt like a maverick, and I felt like a rebel, and a man without a country and… I felt rejected. I was alone with nobody to talk to. I was forgotten with nobody that cared. It would be a terrible thing to be without a home, some place that you could hang your hat and kick off your shoes. Some place that you could take off the “dress” of society and lay “naked” before your loved ones. I’m not talking about hypocrisy here, but the sanctity that loved ones offer because of the love that you know they hold for you. They accept you –you are welcome -you are home. It is a comforting feeling to know that you are loved and this is one of the feelings that home has to offer.
Abraham was asked to leave his home and venture out into unknown territory. God said to him, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” God asked Abraham to leave his life of familiarity and routine to live a live of faith and uncertainty. Faith and uncertainty? Wait a minute, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Heb.11:1 You are absolutely right! But hope that is seen is no hope at all! Rom.8:24 We must understand, that faith would no longer be faith without uncertainty. Because of faith, Abraham was able to live in uncertainty. Nothing in this life is for certain. Things change all the time and change breeds uncertainty. But this is why God called Abraham to His home of unchanging foundations. God wanted to give Abraham something certain in an uncertain world. We have to take note here though –the “certainty” comes with the calling of God, not with anything in this life. Like Abraham, we all have received this calling from God to leave our familiar way of life and venture out into a life in which God leads us –this is salvation.
Jesus said that He is preparing a place for us and I believe Him. Jesus said that in this world we shall have trouble and I believe that too. But Jesus also said that He has overcome this world of trouble! He is coming back for us to take us out of this world of uncertainty and bring us to His home (in Heaven). A home where we are accepted – a home where we are welcomed and loved. A home that will endure forever! From our faith springs the living waters of hope and it is that hope that saves us. Therefore, lean not to your own understanding but acknowledge God in all thy ways –and He shall direct your path. That path leads us through this life of uncertainty straight to the Arms that hold the everlasting promise.
I was asked to leave my parents home. Don’t blame them. If you would have lived with me back then, you would have asked me to leave too. I was asked to leave my brother’s and his wife’s home just a year later. Don’t blame them… well, they might have been partly to blame. But, no matter how you look at it, in the late spring of 1976, I was roaming the back roads of Guernsey County in a 1967 Ford Maverick. In a Maverick –how ironic! I felt like a maverick, and I felt like a rebel, and a man without a country and… I felt rejected. I was alone with nobody to talk to. I was forgotten with nobody that cared. It would be a terrible thing to be without a home, some place that you could hang your hat and kick off your shoes. Some place that you could take off the “dress” of society and lay “naked” before your loved ones. I’m not talking about hypocrisy here, but the sanctity that loved ones offer because of the love that you know they hold for you. They accept you –you are welcome -you are home. It is a comforting feeling to know that you are loved and this is one of the feelings that home has to offer.
Abraham was asked to leave his home and venture out into unknown territory. God said to him, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” God asked Abraham to leave his life of familiarity and routine to live a live of faith and uncertainty. Faith and uncertainty? Wait a minute, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Heb.11:1 You are absolutely right! But hope that is seen is no hope at all! Rom.8:24 We must understand, that faith would no longer be faith without uncertainty. Because of faith, Abraham was able to live in uncertainty. Nothing in this life is for certain. Things change all the time and change breeds uncertainty. But this is why God called Abraham to His home of unchanging foundations. God wanted to give Abraham something certain in an uncertain world. We have to take note here though –the “certainty” comes with the calling of God, not with anything in this life. Like Abraham, we all have received this calling from God to leave our familiar way of life and venture out into a life in which God leads us –this is salvation.
Jesus said that He is preparing a place for us and I believe Him. Jesus said that in this world we shall have trouble and I believe that too. But Jesus also said that He has overcome this world of trouble! He is coming back for us to take us out of this world of uncertainty and bring us to His home (in Heaven). A home where we are accepted – a home where we are welcomed and loved. A home that will endure forever! From our faith springs the living waters of hope and it is that hope that saves us. Therefore, lean not to your own understanding but acknowledge God in all thy ways –and He shall direct your path. That path leads us through this life of uncertainty straight to the Arms that hold the everlasting promise.
|