“Where He Leads Me I Will Follow”

Gen 12:1-5 NIV - [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.

There tend to be three categories of people in regards to change: those who resist it because they see it as an impediment, those who embrace it without question because they see it as a step forward, and those who accept only that change which they see as a step forward. Typically, it is those older who we think of as less accepting to change. So it is surprising that we see Abram accept it blindly. This is why he is known as “the father of faith.” Abram’s story reminds us that we serve a God who is constantly asking us to change. He is a moving God, and we must move with Him.

Let us look at Abram’s journey. Abruptly, after introducing Abram into the genealogical record of the table of nations, we see God commanding Abram to “Leave [his] country, [his] people and [his] father’s household and go to the land [the Lord] will show [him].” This is not a small request. Rarely do God’s requests seem to be small, yet we must follow Him. He has a purpose too great for us to comprehend, and in that purpose lies blessings for us. The Lord promised to “make [Abram] into a great nation” and “bless [him].” He “[made Abram’s] name great” and made him “a blessing.” Though the blessings of the Lord are not always so obvious at the time, I have never finished my journey without experiencing them. I know of no man who has followed God to the ends of the earth and then said, “Twas a bit less than I expected.”

So we must follow the Lord wherever He leads. His voice is guiding us, just as it guided Abram. Will we, as Abram, take all we have and follow the Lord to the land He has promised?