Where He Leads, Will You Follow?

Where He Leads, Will You Follow?

Genesis 12.1-5

1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go 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 left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Most people cannot imagine a 75 year old man leaving his home country and heading out into barbaric, treacherous, unknown regions of the earth. Yet that is exactly what we are told happened to Abram in Genesis 12. God calls Abram to “leave [his] country, [his] people and [his] father’s household” to “go to the land [the LORD] will show [him].” What faith Abram must have mustered to carry out God’s plan! Even with the Lord’s promise of protection and blessing, Abram still must have dealt with fear, doubt, and anxiety.

But the Lord calls us as well, just as He called Abram. He calls us out of our places of comfort and safety into the unknown. The Lord has raised up missionaries to the ends of the earth, he has placed men and women in the line of fire for the sake of the Gospel or for a man’s country or family. He has called us to feed the hungry and poor, to adopt the orphans, and to preach the gospel when He tells us. This is no doubt the hardest part about Christianity. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristippus stated that all organisms tend to pursue pleasure and avoid pain.

And yet Christ often calls us to pain. Abraham experienced many trials and temptations along his journey. We do as well. But God calls us to follow Him, wherever and whenever He leads. I do not pretend to be the sort of person who can yet say he does this enough. Nevertheless, we need to be working on obeying the Lord. Obedience is not an option; it is a command. When our Lord leads us, we better follow. I often think about all the missed opportunities I’ve had that could have helped someone else. Just think of how much the Lord could work in the world if we would only obey Him. If we would only follow where He lead us.

We can begin to do that today. We can begin to live by the Holy Spirit’s call. We can begin to live as Abraham did. What is it God is calling you to do today? Obey His voice. Follow Him. Where He leads, will you follow? Amen.

With love in Christ,



Austin Aldrich