Day 9
When he was called
To Start
Enter the stillness and quiet. Enjoy sitting in silence.
Pray
Be my eyes today, Lord. Look for me.
Be my mind today, Lord. Understand for me.
Be my heart today, Lord. Feel for me.
I surrender to Your wisdom.
Write
We’ll be reading Hebrews 11:8-12 this week. Grab an index card and copy it down.
Hebrews 11:8-12
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful. 12 Therefore, from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and as innumerable as the grains of sand along the seashore.
Read
Our close reading today will be Hebrews 11:8 & (if you have time) Genesis 12:1-7.
As you read…
Ask God to show you what you need to see.
Consider the phrase, “when he was called.” What did that look like for Abraham? Imagine the moment of his calling. What did Abraham know about God at that point? Remember, there is no Bible for Abraham to read. What does Abraham bank his faith on?
Have you ever been called? If so, what did it look like for you? If not, perhaps you have too narrow a definition of calling. Ask God to help you widen it.
Consider the phrase “even though he did not know where he was going.” Have you ever had to step out in faith without a plan?
How are you with mystery? (Our ability to live contentedly in the midst of mystery is one significant measure of our faith.)
Hebrews 11:8 (CSB)
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going.
Genesis 12:1-7 (CSB)
The Lord said to Abram:
Go from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 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, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 7 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 JL
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed.”
Because this group is as diverse as it is, I expect we all have different understandings of the concept of “calling.” I want to point out two things inspired by Abraham’s call in this passage. If one stretches you, the other probably won’t. Enjoy both the stretching and the easy amen.
Abraham’s call is obviously unique—the voice of God speaking, an “appearance,” a world-rocking destiny, but it’s also a model because…
Everyone is called.
&
Some people do (it appears) receive particular, personal, and even miraculous calls.
What do I mean, “everyone is called”? A few things:
First, as a grafted-in member of the family of Abraham, you share in THIS calling. You will be blessed as a member of this clan. You will be a part of a great nation. If you bear Abraham’s name (as you should), your name will be great.
God’s not (necessarily) asking you to go to a new land, but He is calling you to believe in the promise given to Abraham and build your life upon that promised identity and blessing.
But this isn’t the only calling you get. The Greek word for “called” here is “kaléo” which translates into English “to call, to name, to invite.” It carries with it the idea of calling out aloud. It’s your mother calling you to dinner by shouting. It’s a boy calling a girl on the phone to ask her on a date.
This list of the faithful here in Hebrews 11 exists partly to help the Jews muster the faith to embrace a new calling they’ve been given, the call to follow Jesus.
More than 20 times in the gospels Jesus says, “Follow me.” In his last recorded words in Revelation, He says, “‘Come!’ […] Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.”
No matter who you are, the primary call in your life is this one: Come to Jesus. Follow Jesus.
Finally, now that we live in the bright shadow of the recorded Word of God, we find ourselves called to a specific way of living. Those of us who have been called to follow Jesus find the way of following Jesus (graciously) outlined in Scripture.
So what does obedience to the call look like? 1. Expect to be blessed. 2. Follow Jesus. 3. Do what the Spirit tells you to do in Scripture.
But these are not the only expressions of calling in the Christian life. Sometimes God does appear, speak, or move in personal and particular ways.
Some Christians argue that after the completion of the New Testament, God stopped revealing Himself in any way outside Scripture. That’s a remarkable assertion given that in no time in history has God ever limited Himself to written expression (despite a robust book of the law), and given the fact that in the book of Acts (the last book of history in the Bible) God amps up personal revelation. It’s also hard to square with church history, full as it is of personal experiences with God resulting in acts of faith.
I think what makes us nervous about personal “calling” is that it can easily be mishandled or faked. Notoriously, many a young man has “felt called” to marry a particular girl (usually one way out of his league).
I don’t think the potential to mishandle or misunderstand God’s calling is a good reason to decide He doesn’t appear, speak, or personally invite people today.
I don’t have space here to say everything there is to say about what to do if God speaks to you or appears to you directly (or how to be absolutely sure He has—though if you’re wondering, it’s likely He hasn’t. He’s famously clear in communication.) All I really want to say is this:
If God calls you, you should do what He says.
Run it by a trusted mentor, definitely. Write it down so it doesn’t shift over time in your mind. Be sure what you’ve heard matches up to what God’s said before (He doesn’t contradict Himself). But don’t immediately distrust it.
If God tells you to do something, you should do it by faith.
Process
Just like we get inspiration through retelling stories of lived faith, sometimes reflecting on our missteps can inspire us to act differently in the future.
Have you even been called (through Scripture or otherwise) and then didn’t obey the calling? Were there consequences? How did you feel? How do you feel looking back?
Pray
Yahweh, call me. As you call, “Follow me,” show me the next step of obedience.
In the Comments
Let’s let you guys guide the discussion today. What do you want to talk about?
Godspeed,
JL
When I think of "calling" I tend to think of the big things but actually I think a lot of the time its the daily, small invitations God generously offers that matter. When I suddenly think of a person and feel called to message them. When I feel a prompt to give a word of encouragement to a friend, God is inviting me to join in with what he is doing. Sometimes I miss these callings because they are subtle and gentle but they are His invitations to enter into His plans. I hope I am learning to listen better as the years go by!
I love that expectation of blessing is the first step of obedience to God's call. Often I jump ahead and focus on the discipline and struggle of obedience so much that I lose sight of the joy set before me. But 11:6 reminds us that our God "rewards those who earnestly seek him," so we can expect good things. What a gift!