bignoseduglyguy

In amongst family, friends and church, I am trying to make sure that I do a little personal bible study each weekend.  At the moment, I’m working my way through the LifeGuide Bible Study entitled Faith: Depending On God.  This weekend’s study was ‘Abraham: Faith Under Construction’ and focuses on Genesis 12:1-9.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation.  I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”  So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.  He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.  Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.  After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord.  Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.

Four years ago this week, we moved 18,000kms across the globe with 22 bags, six month visitor’s visas and the faith that we were doing the right thing as a family.  Our journey was not in the same league as Abraham’s and was certainly easier in the physical sense.  However, studying this passage certainly brought back some of the feelings I experienced as I led my family from our native country to the land we were ‘shown’ and where we hope to be a blessing to others.