Walk In Newness of Life Pt. 9 Delayed Obedience by Abraham

Steps of Faith: Abraham delayed to obey for 15 years.

Genesis 11:31-32  And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32) And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. 

Joshua 24:2  And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 

Jehovah called Abraham about 15 years before the text in Genesis 12:1. His father Terah gathered up his entire family and they did leave Ur of the Chaldees, which was a very well developed and wealthy society and his family was very wealthy. They travelled to the land of Canaan and arrived at a city named Haran, where they settled. 

Joshua provided more detail about the man, Abraham. He said of his family that "they served other gods." I think that this is important to think about. God calls people to respond by faith to the gospel of Jesus Christ when they are unsaved, when they are actually His enemies. Jehovah called Abraham even though he was part of an idolatrous family. 

This means that there is hope for those who are serving "other gods" today. There are about 1.2 billion followers of Hinduism and about 535 million Buddhists. About 6 million people follow Confucianism and about 1.8 billion are followers of Islam. Abraham worshipped the moon god at Ur but Jehovah called him to faith and salvation. This is a reminder of how much God loves the world and why it is so important to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. 

The call of God included great promises. 

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3)  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. 

Jehovah called Abraham to follow Him. He told Abraham to leave the country where his family lived. Notice, that Jehovah called Abraham to separate from his father's house, and to leave his ancestral homeland to go to an unfamiliar place. Abraham was born into a family of idolaters. 

Genesis 12:1 looks back to the time when Jehovah called Abraham to leave his family and homeland behind. Notice that it took 15 years before Abraham fully obeyed God. He waited until his father Terah, passed away. 

Also take note that God gave Abraham a series of powerful promises for following Him. He would be the father of a great nation (Israel) and his name would be great and he would be a conduit of blessing to all the world. Abraham received promises of protection as well. God said He would bless those who bless Abraham and curse those who curse Abraham.  

Abraham did obey...15 years later!

Gen 12:4  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 

Abraham was 60 years old when he left Ur of the Chaldees and he was 75 years old when he finally obeyed the call of Jehovah. Thus, he had 15 additional years of incomplete obedience and delayed action. Who knows how many blessings Abraham may have forfeited by not promptly obeying when Jehovah called him out of Ur. 

I would say to those who are not born again or who have resisted the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ that none of us are guaranteed that we will wake up tomorrow. We only have this moment in time when we pick up the Scripture  and read from it or read gospel truth in a blog lesson like this. The most pressing question before us is "How will we respond to the gospel?"

A timely response to the gospel is required. 

2 Corinthians 6:1-2  We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2) (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 

Paul voiced concerns that some Corinthians were not being serious about the grace of God that brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. The people may have listened halfheartedly or thought that they could postpone thinking about what Paul had preached to them, concerning salvation through faith in Christ. 

Paul reached back to Isaiah 49:8 and reminded them that this day, this moment in time when you hear the word of God, is the moment to respond by faith. Again, no one is guaranteed another day of life. Therefore, we must respond now while we have the opportunity. 

Abraham did not seem particularly urgent in his response to the call of God upon his life. Let us learn something positive from Abraham's failure to readily respond. We can choose to hear and heed the Word of God, we can choose to be those who say "Here am I Lord, Send me!"(Isaiah 6:8).

Jesus gave an example of delayed obedience. 

Matthew 21:28-32  But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29) He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30) And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31) Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 32) For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. 

Our Lord Jesus Christ addressed the very issue of delayed obedience. A wealthy landowner had two sons. He asked the first son to go out into his vineyard and work. This son initially refused to do what his father asked of him. However, he felt convicted by his conscience and repented and proceeded to comply with his father's request. 

The second son replied that he would go out and work in the vineyard when his father asked him to do so. However, he never went out to work. Jesus asked the people which of the two sons did the will of his father and they rightly replied that the first son did. He ultimately obeyed whereas the second son said he would go but disobeyed his father's direction.

Even though the first son eventually did the will of his father, his character was tarnished by his initial refusal. We know that God teaches our children to obey their parents, and this son forfeited a blessing of doing the will of God by submitting to parental authority. This would seem to be the the case for Abraham. He eventually did obey but he delayed in doing what Jehovah told him to do. This was an act of disrespect and irreverence toward God. 

Prompt obedience brings a joyous life. 

Psalm 119:60  I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments. 

Prompt obedience honors God and brings blessing to us when we obey Him without hesitation. 

The Psalmist communicated this truth to us. He made haste and did not delay to keep God's commandments. The words "made haste" means that he had an excited enthusiasm and a delight to obey God and he hurried to do so. The word "keep" means to treasure God's Word, to shelter it in a safe place, a protected place. Thus, the Psalmist tells us that "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee" (Psalm 119:11). The words "delayed not" mean that he did not take his time to keep God's commandments. He was ready to obey and he followed through by complying. 

Matthew 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many people today profess to be Christians and yet many live just like the world lives. Jesus said only those who do the will of His Father will enter the kingdom of heaven. Abraham delayed in obeying what Jehovah told him to do, but ultimately he did obey and his faith was counted for his righteousness before God.

We must be willing to leave all behind and follow Christ!

Luke 14:25-7  Luk 14:25  And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 

Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.  

Jesus made this very clear to all who claim to be followers of Him. He is not calling us to hate our parents in the sense of reviling them, abusing them or being hateful. Rather, Jesus reestablished the priority that God alone has first claim in our lives and following Him must come before we fulfill family obligations. The proper order is love God (our first love- Revelation 2) and then to love our neighbors, family and friends. Why is this so? Because other relationships will not be blessed until we make Jehovah the priority in our life. 

Jesus also spoke of the necessity of being willing to leave all worldly things behind in order to be His disciple. This does not mean that God is calling us to an ascetic lifestyle like a monk. Rather, it means we view all of our material possessions as belonging to God and if He calls us to be a missionary, we are willing to leave those things behind in order to fulfill His calling. 

It means having the right attitude toward material things like property, home, vehicles, education, vocational skills, and so on. All that we have and all of our unique abilities and skills come from God. He is our creator and we are His sheep. None of these things are evil unless we allow them to occupy a higher place in our heart that we allow for God. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

Parents know all too well what delayed obedience is because we sometimes experience it when we ask our children to do a certain task, like completing homework or chores. We must persist in teaching our kids that when they obey their parents, they are doing what God expects them to do and this is the path to blessing for their lives. 

Abraham did not fully comply with God's command until 15 years had elapsed. This man is often called the father of faith and yet he struggled with promptly obeying God.  It is most likely that we will also struggle to honor God by obeying readily. 

The Psalmist tells us that the path to blessing is responding rightly to what God says to us. 

Jesus told us that the path to blessing is in obedience and that those who do the Father's will are assured of a home in heaven. 

I pray that the Spirit of God will help us understand this valuable lesson of faith from the life of Abraham. I pray that He will impress upon our hearts the joy and the duty of prompt obedience to our Lord's commands. I pray that we will honor God with our response to His word.

Bob