Heb 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. (9) By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: (10) For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
The events in the life of Abraham are recorded in Gen 11:27 - 25:8. God’s initial call for Abraham to leave his homeland, and the blessings that would result, are found in Genesis 12:1-5.
“Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:” (Gen 12:1)
As Abraham trusted in his Lord and followed this calling, it brought great personal sacrifice upon himself. He sacrificed by leaving his home, family and friends behind, as well as sacrificing his own family’s security and comfort. Abraham’s sacrifice was to result in receipt of a wonderful inheritance: (Gen 12:2-3)
- I will make of thee a great nation,
- and I will bless thee,
- and make thy name great;
- and thou shalt be a blessing:
- And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:
- and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Although a wonderful blessing from God, this temporal inheritance was not the motivating force behind Abraham’s step of faith. We are told in our text that Abraham was motivated by the eternal blessings that awaited Him. The earthly land of Caanan could not begin to compare to the New Jerusalem, Heaven his eternal inheritance…
“For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (see also Heb 11:13-16).
Is the Lord burdening our heart about making a great temporal sacrifice for Him? Is He asking us to give up something in this world, so that we might be of greater heavenly service to Him? If so, let’s keep our eyes on our heavenly home and the eternal blessings that await us. There is nothing on earth that can begin to compare to the value of knowing we are pleasing our Lord and will spend eternity with Him someday.
May the Lord bless each one of us as we “Think On These Things”.
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that was great!
ReplyDeleteLord bless you, Terry. If anyone knows what it is life to give up things of the world for the sake of the greater good it is you dear friend. I pray for you daily. Thanks so much for the kind words.
ReplyDeleteI often think of a visual Francis Chan used during a sermon. It was a long, long, long white rope. On one end there was a small red-colored section. He explained the small section was our temporary residence here on earth. The forever-looking white section was eternity. I try to remember to keep my eyes on that long forever.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, beautifully written.
ReplyDelete"There is nothing on earth that can begin to compare to the value of knowing we are pleasing our Lord and will spend eternity with Him someday."
One of our greatest 'idols' in our materialistic age seems to be a terrible fear of giving up...anything...our time, our possessions. Excellent article, and a profound reminder to walk humbly with our God. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHI Rob thank you for visiting my blog. I look forward to reading your thoughts, I love to think on "these things!" - eternal blessings and our inheritance! ` Regina http://5minutebible.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeleteIt is a very difficult thing to even conceive of what eternity will be like. Teh illustration you mentioned is probably one of hte best ones I've heard of... thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words. The Lord is certainly good, He will always bless our weak, lacking service for Him. May He bless you richly!
ReplyDeleteI believe the tendency to put worldly possessions and comfort ahead of our service to the Lord is one of the greatest stumbling blocks we face as Crhistians today. Thanks so much for your comments. Lord bless you.
ReplyDeleteYou're not the only one that likes to think of our heavenly home. I really enjoyed my visit to your blog... Thanks for visiting SIH. Lord bless you, Regina!
ReplyDeleteWhat an encouragement Rob, to us as we sacrifice whatever He calls us to now, to know how much it pleases Him to see us trusting Him and His always love toward us. God bless you and your thoughts of Him today!
ReplyDeleteDebbie, Sacrifice is a privilege when we consider all He has done for us! Lord bless!
ReplyDeleteI think it was Spurgeon who declared that we could never outgive God, because God always uses a bigger shovel. I must say I have known this truth over and over again. The little sacrifices we make are repaid thousand-fold, and the real benefit is out of this world!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing God!
AMEN Angela. You are so right (about Spurgeon and the Lord blessing our weak acts of obedience!) Lord bless.
ReplyDeleteDear Rob, thank you so much for this inspiring post. Would you please be so kind as to give me permission to translate this and some of your other posts, too, into Hungarian and to put them on my blog with the original sources, etc.? I would be so grateful. And I would like to thank you here again for your kind words of encouragement and for visiting my blog. Thank you so much! God bless you in your ministry.
ReplyDeleteHajnalka,
ReplyDeleteYou are more than welcome to translate and post any of my material... I count it a blessing from the Lord. I so apprecaite your much needed ministry to the Hungarian people. If I can be of assistance in anyway please let me know. Keep up the good work... the Lord is and will continue to use you greatly.
Thank you so much! I so much appreciate it. God bless you for your kind willingness in helping me with regards to this. Your pure, concise biblical expositions have been such a blessing for me to read – and will surely be so for the people here, too. Even though I love translating devotions and quotes, etc. I just felt that there was still a shortage of the Word on my blog – a shortage of good, succinct and theologically very sound writings elucidating simply the Word of God. Your posts would be just perfect from this respect – so thank you once more! …Your "Think on These Things" series are just so inspired and inspiring.
ReplyDeleteThank you and God bless you.
If we are to walk unencumbered by the baggage of this world, we WILL need to sacrifice some temporal things from time to time. Then we are set free to walk with whole-heartedness in His Ways.
ReplyDeleteYou are more then welcome. We really see eye to eye on the purpose of our ministries.... to reach as many as we can with the truths of God's Word, both to show the need of salvation and then to serve the Lord in a way that glorifies Him! Let me know if you need anything! Im praying for you and the ministry there.
ReplyDeleteThat is so true, Granbee. There will be times we will have to choose our Lord over the world around us. Lord bless you.
ReplyDelete[...] (Reblogged and translated with permission from this link: http://settledinheaven.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/sihs-think-on-these-things-heb-118-10/) [...]
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I am so thankful for that. God bless you.
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome... The Lord is so good to us! Thank you so much for translating some of my postings into Hungarian. It is such a blessing! Lord bless.
ReplyDelete