Leave

‘Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. (Gen 12:1).

Abraham is one of the Bible’s most important figures. He is referred to as the ‘friend of God’ (2 Chronicles 20:7, James 2:23). Though Abraham was childless, God’s promise to him was, ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through you’ (Genesis 12:3). After his father - Terah’s death, God told Abram, Leave ‘your country, your relatives, and your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you’. This command was the basis of God’s ‘covenant’ with Abram. This study is focused on the command God gave Abram to leave. Abram, trusting God’s promise, left Haran at the age of 74 without knowing where God was taking him.

God’s purpose for every individual is different. Like Jeremiah and Paul’s example, God knows all men and ordains each one for a particular purpose even before they are a clot of blood in their mother’s womb (Jer 1:5, Gal 1:15). Parents may sometimes get unplanned pregnancies, but the children that come out of those situations are in God’s perfect plan. That is why abortion is against God’s will. Because God’s purpose for everyone is different, it is important for you as an individual to see yourself as a unique person sent on earth with a unique purpose. When you realize your uniqueness and the uniqueness of your purpose you will be careful to live a life of consecration and not follow the masses to do things because everyone else is doing them. For ones destiny to be fulfilled it is important not to follow the crowd but the cloud of God.

Leave your Country: Every country or geographical location has its own culture or believe systems. In the case of Abram, ‘there was a moon cult in the city of Ur, and Abraham’s old name Abram probably referred to the moon god or another pagan god. His parents were part of this moon Cult’ (iLumina). For Abraham to fulfill God’s purpose for His life he had to leave that ‘world’ of idol worship to a new ‘world’ of the worship of Jehovah, the true God, the creator of Heaven and earth. That is the first step to fulfilling ones destiny. By surrendering your will to God and believing in Jesus as your savior, you are born again into a new world spiritually. Through this new birth all things become new and you live a new life based on the principles of God’s word, but not the philosophies of our world, which is basically based on the worship of self and materialism (2 Cor 5:17).

Leave your family: Naturally people love their families. Leaving your family can signify leaving some things you love most in life. There are many things, habits and companionship you possess, which can prevent you from fulfilling the purpose God has for you. After becoming a Christian you have to avail yourself to God’s guidance so that God can prune you and take away all toxic habits and relationships. This is a difficult process that many Christians fail at. Abraham brought a lot of problems on himself when he didn’t fully obey this command and took Lot his nephew with him instead of leaving all his family. His wife Sarah was the bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, as a couple they were one, so her situation was different.

Leave your father’s household: In those times fathers had the responsibility of training their son’s in their profession. Even now fathers teach their son’s the basic lessons of work and life, so this command can signify leaving the normal way of doing things in a particular career or vocation and doing it the way God is directing you. Many people that were ordained to bring new ideas and innovations to bless and transform our world failed as a result of trying to be like everybody else, to please men. Being like everybody else is no achievement. If God is leading you into something new, be strong and courageous and take that step of faith. Trying something different always involves risk taking and may make you unpopular at the earlier stages.

If you are in the will of God and you are under pressure from men be encouraged by the words of John Wesley ‘a fair exchange, if by loss of reputation we can purchase the lowest degree of purity of heart’. John placed higher value on “a clean heart, a single eye, and a soul full of God! Today be bold and leave the world of sin, the things you love and the normal way of doing business, all creation is waiting for your manifestation, imagine what would have happened if Abraham had failed to leave (Rom 8:19).