Ep. 124 | Taking the First Step | Genesis

Listen in as Pastor Eddie Blalock shares today’s daily devotional featuring Genesis 12:4-9. Let’s be Formed by The Word together!

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SPEAKER_00 0:01

Every one of us eventually reaches a place where we have to decide. Will I trust God even when I can't see where He's leading? That's not a new question. It's one of the oldest questions in the Bible. No one illustrates that journey better than Abraham. Welcome to Forms by the Word, where we open God's Word not just to study it, but to let it shape our hearts and transform our lives. Sometimes our journey of faith leads through familiar places. Other times it leads into the unknown. There are seasons of joy and seasons of waiting, moments of great faith and moments of painful failure. Genesis 11 through 25 tells the story of an ordinary man called to an extraordinary walk of faith, and in the process helps us discover that God still leads ordinary people, like us, into an extraordinary walk of faith. So whether you're driving, working, exercising, or simply enjoying a quiet moment with the Lord, I invite you to open your heart and let's learn to trust the God who always keeps his promises one step of faith at a time.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Have you ever wished that God would just give you the entire plan for your life? Typically, we'd like to know where we're going and how long it will take and what obstacles we'll face and really how everything will turn out. But that's usually not how God works. More often than not, he simply shows us the next step. That's exactly what he did with Abram. Last time we saw that Genesis 12, 1 through 3 records the Lord's call to Abram. He called Abraham to leave his country and even his father's household for a land that God would show him. He promised Abram a land with promises of a nation, a blessing, a great name, and him being a blessing to all the families of the earth. Well, verses 4 through 9 show Abraham's response. This is the first concrete act of faith in the Abraham narrative. And it sets a pattern for the rest of his life. This pattern of hearing, obeying, and worshiping as he walks. A little more on that later. In his response to God's call, Abram teaches us about how God builds our faith one step at a time. In fact, I see three things that I've liked for us to observe together in our text today. Again, Genesis chapter 12, verses 4 through 9. So the first thing we notice is this. When he was invited, that is Abram, when he was invited to follow the Lord, God initiated the process. But Abram had to decide to take the first step. That's important. Listen to verse 4. Moses writes, So Abram went as the Lord had told him, and Lot with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Wow, that's a short but powerful and meaningful start to this section. So Abram went. That's all it says. There were no negotiations. God calls Abram went. No negotiations. There was no delay, no conditions, just obedience. The greatest words in the passage may simply be those first words. So Abram went. The Lord called Abram to begin a journey of faith, and Abram just simply said yes, and he went. Have you said yes to the Lord's call on your life? Have you said yes to the first step, the second step, or maybe you're on the third step? Are you negotiating with the Lord or trying to delay or set conditions? Or are you willing to just go? Can it be said? So Eddie went. That's a piercing question, isn't it? Our journey of faith begins when we take the first step. And obedience is that first step. Obedience is the first evidence of genuine faith. Hebrews 11 8 later highlights it this way. The writer says, By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called. Abraham went. Now, the second thing we notice is that Abram keeps taking the next step. Let me read for you, verses five through eight. It says, He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem at the oak of More. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land. So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord. Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev. Wow. Well, a lot in those verses. Did you notice all the instances that saw Abram on the move? Abram doesn't arrive and settle. He keeps moving. He's come to the land, but he keeps moving. After his father Terod died, Abram set out for Canaan. He followed a busy trade route west and then turned south to the mountain city of Shechem, a bustling trade town that lay between two mountains revered by local religions. One was called Mount Gerizim, and one was called Mount Ebal. They were twin mountains side by side. And this location gave Shechem a long history as a sacred site. Abram camped beside the Oak of Mora, which could also be translated the tree of teaching. Now I know it arrests my mind that he marks a tree as a landmark. Some have said it's most likely a large table oak that served as a prominent landmark. The Hebrew expression suggests it had become a local shrine or place of gathering where teachers spoke to crowds. There they gather. After a while, at Shechem, Abram picked up and moved. He moved on to the hill country between Bethel and Ai. And then he tells us that he built an altar there and moved in stages to the Negev. Always on the move. All of Abraham's moving, all of his shifting from one place to the other teaches us that faith isn't one decision. It's a lifestyle. It's not just one step. It's two steps, three steps, four steps, five steps all through life. We just have to be responsible for one step at a time. But faith involves many steps. And then finally we observe, and we must notice, that all along the journey Abram stops to worship. Listen to verses seven and eight. It says, The Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land. He renews his promises what he's doing there, right? Now back to the text. So he, that is Abram, built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, he called on the name of the Lord. Well, this is one of my favorite points. Notice, everywhere Abram pitched a tent, he built an altar. I really think there's a sermon in there waiting to happen, but I just can't go any further on that right now. But everywhere he pitched a tent, notice he built an altar. While living in a tent, Abram's home was temporary, but wherever he was, his worship was permanent. You see, Abram built altars because worship fueled the journey. Man, that's good. Worship fuels our faith journey as well. Isn't it interesting that Moses, who I believe, by the way, is the writer of Genesis, measures Abram's journey not by the miles he traveled, but by the altars he built. And by the way, history shows that the sites where Abraham constructed altars to God later became major centers of Hebrew worship. Oh, there's so much to say here, but but let me get to the application. I want to suggest you ask yourself three contemplative questions in this regard. First of all, what's your next step? Don't now don't try to name the next ten steps. Name one. In your conversation with the Lord, in your journey of faith, what's your next step? Is it to forgive someone? Is it to find a place to serve? Is it to begin generously giving? Is it to share your faith? Or is it to trust God for something? What's your next step? Second question, where has God already shown himself faithful to you? Or wherever it is, build an altar there. An altar that remembers his faithfulness. You remember we said in the Genesis series that an altar says three things. An altar says thank you, and thank you, Lord, for rescuing me. It says not only thank you, but it says I need you. You remember? I need you, Lord, in my life. And third, it says, I belong to you. I'm your possession, so I surrender to you. Wherever God has already shown himself faithful, build an altar there so that you can remember. And third, is your life marked more by tents or altars? Most people spend all their time building comfortable tents and very little time building places of worship. But the opposite should be true. So let me mention one last observation that is subtle yet very important, and it occurs in verse number six. It says, When Abram arrived in the land, the Canaanites were in the land. That almost feels unnecessary, doesn't it? Well, I add that little one sentence that the Canaanites were in the land. But it's so important. It's important because we note that while God has promised Abraham the land, someone else already occupied. And even though he'd arrived in the land, occupying the land would not be easy. The journey had not been easy. Occupying would be even harder. So here's the importance for us. Just because God has promised you something doesn't mean the path will be obstacle-free when you take the first step. God's promises don't eliminate difficulties. So here's the takeaway for today. Faith takes the next step before it sees the next step. You see, obedience is faith in motion. Faith moves before it understands everything, sees everything. My friend, every journey of faith begins with one step of obedience. God guides moving people. The Christian life is built one obedient step at a time. So in closing, Abraham didn't know everything that lay ahead, and neither do you. But he knew enough to take the next step. And that's all that God asks. What's the next step God has made clearer in your life? Don't wait for the whole map. Obey what you already know and already see. Take the next step and worship him along the way. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for Abram's simple, courageous obedience. Thank you that you still call ordinary people to walk by faith, but you ask us to do it one step at a time. Show us the next step, Lord, that you want us to take. Give us courage to obey and teach us to worship as we go. Form us by your word today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Thanks for joining us today on Formed by the Word. As we journey through the life of Abraham, we're learning together what it means to walk by faith and trust God one step at a time. Wherever you are on your own journey today, remember, the same God who called Abraham is still calling, leading, and faithfully keeping his promises to his people. Pastor Eddie would love to hear how God is using these devotions in your life. Your thoughts and comments are always welcome. Until next time, remember, God rarely shows us the whole journey.