Life Of Integrity预览

""Abraham's Adventure""

When I was in my teenage years, I loved going on adventures. I’d shove into the back of my vehicle anything I would need for every situation: fishing poles, hiking boots, tent, pants, shorts, swimsuit, football and food…lots of food. I’d hop in my car with a few buddies and we’d set off. Our choices were North, South, East or West. We’d drive and if something caught our eye, we’d go there, until something else caught our eye and we’d head in that direction.

Those adventures gave me some of my fondest memories. When I think about the adventures I had 20 years ago, I realize how calculated and precise my life is now. Where is the spontaneity? Where is the adventure? I have a job, a wife, a child and a needy beagle. There is a delicate balance to my life that I dare not disrupt. I’m confronted with this reality. Is my life so planned that I’d resist God’s leading if He wanted me to be somewhere else or do something else?

God speaks to the 70-year-old Abraham and invites him to go on an adventure. He doesn’t even give him any of the details that we would want to hear, such as destination! The invitation to Abraham was to simply go. Pack all of your things and go. This forced Abraham to practice a level of faith that inspires and terrifies many of us. Abraham likely weighed the cost: his comfort, his safety, and his security…for what? The reward of his applied faith was that “all the families of the earth would be blessed.” Abraham endured an extremely tension-filled moment when he said yes to God’s leading, and we are the blessed beneficiaries of that decision. Abraham had positioned himself in such a place to hear God and do what He said.

With Abraham as an example, we’d be wise to press into God to hear His voice and be prepared to be uncomfortable from time to time. God certainly has an adventure for all of us. It might not be as extravagant as Abraham’s, but it will take a measure of faith to embrace. The time to cultivate an adventurous heart for God is right now. Pressing into God today will help you gain His heart and His power, so that when He gives you direction, you’ll want to take the adventure too.

Ask God to show you some of the things that might hold you back from the adventure God has for you. What are some of the things in your life that might make you compromise God’s plan for your life? Ask God to remind you of some of the dreams He has placed in your heart. The obedient life is an adventurous life!