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Gen 12:1-9
(1) The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you.
(2) "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.
(3)"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
(4) So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.
(5) He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had acccumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
(6) Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
(7) The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
(8) From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
(9) Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
Following God means leaving our comfort zone.
The tornado's dark, swirling funnel swept down on the main street of the small town. It took only a few moments for lives, homes, businesses, and future plans to be swept away by the storm's wrath. As the survivors emerged from the wreckage, some wondered how they could possibly go on, because the challenges seem to be so great.
It would have been easy for Abraham to think that the challenges he was required to face when he obeyed God's call were too great. He was to leave the security of living near his extended family to journey to a land he knew nothing about. In fact, Abraham did not even know where he was going; he just knew that God promised that He would make him into a great nation in this new land. On the strength of God's promise, Abraham packed up his entire household and left for this promised land.
God sometimes calls us to leave our comfort zones to follow Him. He may lead us to a new town or a new job, or He may call us into a ministry that requires some personal sacrifice. We need to follow Abraham's example and cling to God's promises for our lives.
I'm placing my future into your hands, Lord.