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Scripture Reading: Genesis 12:1–4
“Now the LORD had said to Abram, ‘Get out of your country, from your family, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him.” Genesis 12:1–4
The story of Abraham begins with a call. A clear call. A strong call. A life-changing call.
At that time, his name was Abram. He lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. It was a rich city. It was a comfortable place. It had culture. It had trade. It had security. But it also had idols. Joshua 24:2 says, “Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times, and they served other gods.”
God called a man who lived among idol worshipers. God did not wait for Abram to become perfect. God called him where he was.
This is how God works.
God still calls people today in the middle of their normal lives. He calls them in their cities. He calls them in their jobs. He calls them in their families. He calls them in their weakness.
The call of Abraham shows us four main things.
• God takes the first step.
• God calls us to leave.
• God calls us to trust.
• God calls us to become a blessing.
Let us look at each one.
- God takes the first step
Genesis 12:1 says, “Now the LORD had said to Abram…”
God spoke first. Abram did not look for God. God looked for Abram.
This is important.
You did not start your journey with God by your own wisdom. God started it. He spoke to you. He touched your heart. He opened your eyes.
John 15:16 says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.”
The call of Abraham shows us that God is a God who seeks. He calls. He invites. He reveals His will.
Abram was 75 years old when this happened. Genesis 12:4 tells us that. He was not young. He was not at the beginning of life. Yet God still called him.
This teaches you something.
• It is never too early to follow God.
• It is never too late to obey God.
When God calls, age does not matter. Background does not matter. Past mistakes do not stop God.
Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”
When God speaks, do not harden your heart.
- God calls us to leave
Genesis 12:1 says, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”
This is a call to separation.
God did not only call Abram to follow Him. He called him to leave something behind.
He had to leave:
• His country.
• His relatives.
• His father’s house.
This was not easy.
In those days, family meant protection. Family meant identity. Family meant survival.
But God said, “Leave.”
Why?
Because you cannot follow God fully while holding tightly to your old life.
Sometimes God asks you to leave places.
Sometimes He asks you to leave habits.
Sometimes He asks you to leave relationships.
Sometimes He asks you to leave ways of thinking.
2 Corinthians 6:17 says, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
This does not mean you hate people. It means you no longer live by the same values.
Abraham had to choose.
• Comfort or calling.
• The familiar or the future.
• Safety or obedience.
He chose obedience.
Genesis 12:4 says, “So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him.”
Short sentence. Big obedience.
He did not argue.
He did not delay.
He did not negotiate.
He went.
Delayed obedience is still disobedience.
- God calls us to walk by faith
Look again at Genesis 12:1. God said, “To a land that I will show you.”
God did not tell Abram the name of the place.
God did not show him a map.
God did not explain the full plan.
He only said, “I will show you.”
Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
This is real faith.
Faith is not walking when you see everything.
Faith is walking when you only hear God’s voice.
Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”
Many people want God to explain everything first.
• Show me the whole plan.
• Show me the full road.
• Show me the final result.
But God often shows only the next step.
Why?
Because He wants you to trust Him, not the plan.
Abraham had to learn to depend on God every day.
You also must learn this.
• Trust God in your career.
• Trust God in your family.
• Trust God in your ministry.
• Trust God in your future.
Faith grows when you walk with God, not when you sit and wait.
- God gives promises with His call
The call of Abraham did not come empty. It came with strong promises.
Genesis 12:2–3 says:
“I will make you a great nation.
I will bless you and make your name great.
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you,
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Look at how many times God says “I will.”
This shows you something.
The future of Abraham did not depend on Abraham’s power. It depended on God’s faithfulness.
God promised four main things:
• A great nation.
• A great name.
• Personal blessing.
• A global blessing.
At that time, Abraham had no child. His wife Sarah was barren. Genesis 11:30 says, “But Sarai was barren. She had no child.”
Humanly speaking, the promise looked impossible.
But God is not limited by human weakness.
Jeremiah 32:27 says, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”
God often starts with what looks impossible so that He alone gets the glory.
- The altar life of Abraham
When Abraham arrived in the land, something important happened.
Genesis 12:7 says, “Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.”
Later in verse 8 it says he built another altar and “called on the name of the LORD.”
Everywhere Abraham went, he built an altar.
An altar speaks of:
• Worship.
• Surrender.
• Fellowship with God.
Abraham did not only walk in faith. He walked in worship.
Your journey with God must not be only about promises. It must be about relationship.
Prayer must not be a last option.
Worship must not be an occasional act.
Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”
Build your life on prayer.
Build your family on worship.
Build your work on dependence on God.
- Abraham was not perfect
It is important to say this.
Abraham was a man of faith. But he was not a man without failure.
In Genesis 12:10–13, he went down to Egypt because of famine. There he lied about his wife Sarah because he was afraid.
Fear made him compromise.
Even great people of faith can fail when they take their eyes off God.
This teaches you two things:
• Do not put your trust in people.
• Do not give up when you fail.
Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again.”
What matters is not that you never fall. What matters is that you return to God.
And Abraham did return.
Genesis 13:4 says he went back “to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.”
Go back to the altar.
Go back to prayer.
Go back to obedience.
- The test of the promise
Many years later, Abraham finally received the promised son, Isaac.
Then something shocking happened.
Genesis 22:2 says, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering.”
This was the greatest test of Abraham’s life.
Why would God ask for the very thing He promised?
Because God wanted to know one thing.
Who is first in your heart?
• The gift or the Giver?
• The promise or the One who promised?
Abraham obeyed.
Hebrews 11:19 tells us he believed God could even raise the dead.
At the last moment, God stopped him and provided a ram.
Genesis 22:14 says, “And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide.”
God will always provide what He requires.
- You are part of this calling
The call of Abraham was not only for him. It was for the whole world.
Genesis 12:3 says, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
This means God’s plan was bigger than one man.
Galatians 3:8 says, “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the good news to Abraham beforehand.”
You are part of this story.
You are blessed so that you become a blessing.
• Bless your family.
• Bless your community.
• Bless the work of God.
• Bless people in need.
Do not live only for yourself.
Acts 20:35 says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
- What the call of Abraham means for you today
The same God who called Abraham still calls people today.
He calls you:
• To leave your old life.
• To trust Him with your future.
• To walk by faith.
• To live for a bigger purpose.
Maybe God is calling you to take a step you fear.
Maybe He is calling you to change direction.
Maybe He is calling you to deeper commitment.
Do not delay.
Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”
Start where you are.
Obey what you know.
Trust God for what you do not yet see.
Final encouragement
Abraham’s journey started with one step of obedience.
Your journey also starts the same way.
One step.
One decision.
One “yes” to God.
Genesis 12:4 says, “So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him.”
Let this also be said about you.
Amen.