A new man comes into the story, Abram, whom we all know better as Abraham. God chooses him and makes a promise to him. Here’s what God says.

“Leave the country where you were born, leave your relatives and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

This is why we always want to be a blessing to the Jews. They brought a blessing to us through Jesus Christ. We bless them in return, and then we are blessed in return. Blessings all around!

Abraham chooses to obey, even though he hasn’t even been told where he is going. He is seventy-five years old. He has no children, but he takes with him his wife and nephew, Lot. He has servants with him as well.

They arrive in the land of Canaan, the land of the Canaanites, those cursed Canaanites. God says, “This is the land I am going to give to your descendants.” This is why the Canaanites still fight with Israel today over the land of Israel. The Canaanites say, “You took it from us.” The Israelites say, “God gave it to us. The Bible holds our deed to the land.”

Abraham builds an altar to God. An altar is a place where sacrifices are offered. An obedient sacrifice is an act of worship. Abraham is honoring God. He remembers who God is and who he is in comparison to God.

Romans 12:1 says that offering ourselves as a living sacrifice is worship. We worship God through the obedient sacrifice of self. By surrendering our lives to God each day, we live a life of worship.