Day #228 - Off the Map

The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭11‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Photo by Tamas Tuzes-Katai on Unsplash

Who is your go to person for directions when you are driving?

One of the funny things about wife is how confidently she answers questions about directions even when she doesn’t know which direction to go. If I ask her, “what way do I turn?” She will say so boldly, “Go right.” Then if I find out its the wrong way and say, “this is the wrong way, why did you say to go this way?” She replies, “well, I don’t know where to go. You asked me what way to turn, not if I knew where we were going.” Then we will just laugh and laugh as we continue on our journey.

What would you do if God called you to follow Him and He didn’t tell you where you were going? Not just you, but your whole giant family with a bunch of your extended relatives? Well, God told Abraham He was going to move but He didn’t know where. He was going to travel and live in tents. But it didn’t seem to matter to Abraham because He knew that God would be with Him.

People have said “home is where the heart is.” I think for Abraham, home was where God is. Abraham was looking forward to His eternal home, the eternal dwelling place that He would share with God. Somehow He knew that following God now even if it meant dwelling in a tent in the promised land, was connected to the ultimate promise of dwelling in the next life with God forever.

Those of “the Presence” are mostly concerned about dwelling with God in this life and the life to come. It is costly to follow Jesus and obey God no matter what, but the reward is Him. There is no greater reward for following Jesus in this life than to know that You will dwell with God forever and ever.

Whatever we need to leave to follow God and have Him in our lives is of immeasurably greater worth than what we have left behind. As Graham Cooke once shared a message on the life of Abraham, God still calls us to walk “off the map.” Know this, whenever you follow Him and choose His presence over the known and the familiar, He will be with You in this life and in the life to come Your greatest reward.

Father God, You are great. I will follow You. No matter what it cost, I want to follow Jesus. I yield the control of knowing the outcome of following You Holy Spirit. I am a child of promise and I look forward to the ultimate promise of dwelling in Your presence forever in Your heavenly home. In Jesus name, amen.