Lesson from Abram

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

LESSON FROM ABRAM

Acts 7:1-5

7:1 Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?"  To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 3'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.'   4 "So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.

NIV

Stephen has been brought into the Sanhedrin and false charges have been laid out, and now the high priest in asking Stephen if the charges are true and gives Stephen the opportunity to defend himself. The whole of Stephen’s response is very long and it will take us several days to work our way through it, but in short, he not only defends what he said is true, and the charges are false, he lays charges against the high priest and the Sanhedrin. But within his lengthy response we find many opportunities to visit times of the past, and learn a lesson or two from points Stephen was making. There is some controversy concerning this call of Abraham, as it is recorded slightly different in Genesis, in that God Called Abram from Haran after his father had died. But in the whole truth of things both Ur and Haran were part of Mesopotamia. It can also be said that God called him when he was in Ur and reminded him of the call in Haran, which is the call recorded in Genesis, but Stephen states it was the call from Ur before he lived in Haran. So it appears God repeated his call on Abram. From this we might well learn a lesson for our lives. When God desires us to advance in a certain direction he will continue to call us, direct us until we get it and move on. This could be toward a ministry or toward a particular place to live, or in our careers, or other situations in life. If at first we fail to make the desired move, or take the desired action he wants in our life, he will call us until we do. He will not leave us to our own choices without direction, without calling us to his plan. He will make sure we get the message one way or another so that we will know it is his call upon our lives. There is another lesson that might well apply to us as well in that although he called Abram to Canaan, he did not give him even a foot of ground, but promised all this land would belong to his descendants, of which he had none at that time. So often we consider our lives and all the blessings of God in our lives, all the stuff he has given us, but perhaps all that he is doing for us, is for our the benefit of our descendants. The call upon our lives, the salvation he brought to us, even though we benefit greatly, by having eternal life, it may also be for the benefit of our descendants. Abram believed God, and God brought about all that he promised him. Our call from God, our belief in God, our trust in him, will bring about all the promises for us, but more importantly, God’s promise to Abram was for his descendants, and so it could be our call is for the promise to our descendants. This promise is that whosoever believes in Jesus will not perish, but have everlasting life. We can be certain that when Abraham did have a son, he passed all this truth about God onto him, as well as Abraham’s faith in God, knowing that God’s promise would be fulfilled in his son’s life. So it can be with us, although we are called by God, and we are descendants of Abraham, engrafted, or because of the circumcision of our hearts, which makes us the true Israel, we will see the promise of God fulfilled in our descendants. But we must also be like Abraham and make sure our descendants know about God, and about our faith in him. As Abraham assured Isaac, that God would provide a lamb, we too can assure our children God has provided a lamb, Jesus. So we learn our lesson from Abram.