This is crazy to me. Abraham had no Bible, no preachers, no church building ... hardly anything to go on. Abraham was a retiree looking forward to living out his days in the city of Ur, in a nice house overlooking the Euphrates river. Seemingly out of nowhere, God speaks to this man, promising to make him and his name great. Please remember that at this point, Abraham (called Abram) was a childless pagan — not on anyone's list of the 10 most likely candidates to change the world for God.
Perhaps what is craziest to me, however, is not that God chose Abraham, but that Abraham kept choosing God. He — though so much more disadvantaged in life compared to me — kept going.
- Abraham kept going, even when he totally screwed up. (Gen 12:14)
- Abraham kept going, even when the promises looked impossible. (Gen 17:17)
- Abraham kept going, even when his family thought he was nuts. (Gen 13)
- Abraham kept going, even when governments were arrayed against him. (Gen 14)
- Abraham kept going, even when he didn't understand what God was doing. (Gen 17:17)
- Abraham kept going, even through painful loss. (Gen 16)
- Abraham kept going, even through family strife.
- Abraham kept going, even through a sex-scandal. (Gen 16:4)
If Abraham can keep going — if he can persevere through all this — how much more can we? We who hope in Christ have more than promises. We have their fulfillment.
Abraham kept going. I can keep going.