Walking with Abraham: A Wrong Turn South

Walking with Abraham: A Wrong Turn South

It’s a good thing that we don’t always get what we deserve, isn’t it? And it’s a good thing that God’s carrying out his plan doesn’t depend on our doing what we’re supposed to do.

Here’s a true statement that should bring us joy: God is faithful . . . even when we aren’t.

In the first part of Genesis 12 God called Abraham and promised to use him to make a huge difference in the world, with the culminating promise that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. After receiving this promise Abraham’s very first action was to leave the land God had promised him and travel down to Egypt where he promptly brought plagues on the people there. Instead of bringing blessings, he brought plagues.

An inauspicious beginning to Abraham’s walk with God, no doubt.

And yet at the end of the story that we’ll study tomorrow, God has protected and blessed Abraham, in spite of the patriarch’s poor choices.

One of the takeaways for us is that this is the kind of God we serve: a God who blesses us in spite of ourselves. He’s faithful, even when we aren’t.

The Bible is a book filled with stories of faithlessness on the part of God’s people, yet God accomplishes his purposes anyway. Ultimately, God faithfully offers himself to bless the world. The sacrifice of Christ is the most beautiful expression of faithfulness that we’ve ever seen.

God is always faithful to his promises. He’s a God who accomplishes his purposes . . . even when we (like Abraham) don’t act as we should.