"GOING GOD'S WAY!"

GENESIS 12:1-9

Having just been let down by someone he trusted, Cornelius Woodbridge decided to test his son, Cy's, reliability. He gave the boy a particular task having obtained his word of honor to do as he instructed to the very letter. Cy was told, "go to your room, read your instructions, and start at once." The boy read the written directive, and was completely puzzled. He had never known his father to give such peculiar directions. Should he follow them, or should he not? It would mean a complete change of his plans for the day, it was an ambiguous task, and the instructions were mystifying. But he had, after all, given his word of honor, so there was nothing for it but to proceed. God gave a set of instructions to Abram, too. Perhaps those instructions seemed to that ancient to be perplexing to say the least. But when God wants to use someone, he stirs, and unsettles, and sometimes uproots that individual. What God is looking for in every generation is that man, that woman, that young person whom he can use; that individual who will follow his directive to the letter. Today we honor our graduates; in some striking ways the graduation event is a lot like Abram's experience of leaving the familiar for the unknown. But whether you are a graduate or not, for each of us, as long as life lasts, there is another step to take, another task to perform, another level to attain. And in order to get us there, God gives us his word to instruct us. Let's see how his dealing with Abram can parallel his dealing with all of us.

• GOD ISSUED A GREAT CHALLENGE: V1:
• "Get out of your familiar surroundings, leave your loved ones, forsake your security and go where I will show you." Bummer! That'd unsettle his plans for a day or two!
• We all face daily challenges, and they may unsettle our plans, too:
• We face fears and anxieties: "what may happen? Will somebody bring violence and harm today? Will I suffer some disaster?"
• We face pressures to produce and succeed and achieve and compete.
• We face the demands of interpersonal relationships: loving the hard to love, forgiving the offender, reconciling to those we've wronged, living up to the covenant of marriage and trying to be effective parents.
• We face the challenge to get out of our comfort zones, to stretch ourselves, to attain new plateaus, forge new frontiers, travel new pathways, and gain new experiences.
• We face grief and disappointment and loneliness.
• But for all our challenges there is help:
• "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" Romans 8:31.
• "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... for I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our lord." Romans 8:35, 38-39.
• "Now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21.
• "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13.
• "And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19.
• "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9.
• No challenge can come without his care; no difficulty without his deliverance; no hardship without his help. The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God will not sustain you! Challenges will come, but they are God's impending blessing.

Mr. Woodbridge had issued a weighty challenge to his son. Cy was perplexed. He was to take 19 envelopes and follow, implicitly, the instructions in each, in order. Envelope 1 told him to go to the library where he was to open envelope 2 and follow its instructions. All day long he was sent from place to place. Criss-crossing his trail, doubling back, being in one spot at 9:30 a.m. and a different place at another precise time. At each location he was to pick up evidence of his arrival: a card at the restaurant, a letter addressed to his father at the W. K. Newton Office, a copy of the previous day's Sentinel Newspaper at the Duane Street Station, and so on. The schedule denied time for lunch or dawdling, and before the end of the day he was hungry and weary. He was tempted to abandon the whole procedure, but then remembered his word of honor. He did not understand the challenge, but was determined to comply with his father's wishes, and to fulfill his promise. So it was with Abram. He received no road map, no itinerary, no travel brochure telling him all the amenities of the place to which God would take him. But he went.

• ABRAM COMPLIED WITH GOD'S CHALLENGE: V4:
• He left home at 75 years of age to become a nomad, a migrant, led by the direction of God. Abram was not completely compliant, by the way; he took Lot with him and that proved, later, to be a problem when their respective flocks became so great there was quarreling between their herdsmen and they came to a parting of the ways. Yet for the time, God allowed Lot to accompany his uncle.
• God has always expected compliance. Later God would issue other challenges and others would comply:
• To Moses and Israel at the red sea, "tell the people to move forward!" and they moved.
• To the disciples by the sea, "follow me and I will make you fish for men!" and they immediately left their vocation and followed.
• To Saul of Tarsus Jesus issued the command to go to the non-Jewish people, the gentiles, with the good news, and he went.
• To comply means:
• Doing what we really don't like to do or want to do, but doing it just because it is right to do.
• Going beyond profession to performance, beyond lip to life service.
• Getting out of our comfort zones, seeking new experiences, exploring new ministries, taking another step of faith.
• Allowing God's word to determine our values, morals, philosophies and life principles.
• Complying takes us beyond merely knowing to doing, beyond just agreeing to acting!

Cy complied with his father's peculiar instructions. His final destination was the Lennox Street Station where he was to arrive at 8:05 and to wait for a messenger at the west end of the station he was given envelope 20. He read that he was to give the items he had collected through the day to the porter and follow his instructions. He was led into his father's private car where he heard, "You have stood the test and you may be proud of it. Your word of honor may be depended upon. You are going with us on a tour of 19 states and Mexico. Is that reward enough for one day's hardships?" "I think it is, sir!" said the tired but gratified son as he sat down to his first rest of the day, and hungrily consumed the first meal he had had time for. Abram lost nothing by taking the challenge; sometimes he was tempted to take things into his own hands, but in the end received a great blessing for his fidelity.

• ABRAM RECEIVED THE PROMISED CONSEQUENCE: V5:
• He arrived in Canaan where God would give him a great portion of land. In subsequent years, he also became a father of a great nation. Not one word of all God promised failed to materialize!
• There are always consequences to our decisions and actions: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life." Galatians 6:7-8.
• When we rebel and sin and reject God's way, the consequence is formidable: disciplines, chastenings, broken lives, ruined relationships, and ultimate eternal condemnation.
• But when we obey and submit, the consequence is pleasant: life abundant, purposeful, fulfilling, and ultimately eternal.
• Here's what to consider regarding consequences of our activities:
• Is this consistent with loving God and loving others?
• How will this effect my friendships, my marriage, my relationship with my children?
• Is this true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, reputable, excellent, praiseworthy?
• Does this line up with Biblical teaching?
• How will this impact upon my character and integrity?
• What effect will this have on my witness and testimony for Jesus Christ?
• Will this lead to bondage, slavery, sorrow and regret?
• There are always consequences! If we are obedient, if we go God's way, we will reap God's promised consequence! What God promises, God performs! What God covenants, God completes! Maybe not in our way, but in His; perhaps not in our time, but in His. And our own decisions, our own actions, determine how God's word is fulfilled, and what consequences ensue, in our lives.

Jesus Christ sets a great challenge before all of us: "deny yourself and follow Me." If we decide to follow Jesus, the consequence will be a life of service and sacrifice; but it will also be an abundant, full, satisfying, fulfilling life that culminates in eternity with our heavenly father. The good news is that whoever you are, whatever you've done, wherever you've been, Jesus offers life to you. There are two ways open to us: the world's Godless way that leads to death, and Jesus' way that leads to life. Which way are you going today? Will you take Christ's challenge to follow Him? Will you go God's way? Will you press on the upward way? This is a moment of deliberation and decision. As we sing the hymn, let it challenge you to leave the easy complacent path, and to go God's way. When you do, you'll someday hear, "You've stood the test and you may be proud of it. Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master." That's the consequence for all who take the challenge, comply and go God's way.

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