Abram, better known to us as Abraham, believed God, and the Bible says it was credited to him as righteousness. That means that, even though Abram was a sinner, just like you and me, because he had a faith that wanted to please and obey God, God excused his sinfulness and extended grace to him that he might be saved. God is still extending grace even today!
The point I hope you have gleaned from this four day look at Abram's calling is not what a great guy Abram was; even though he was a great man of God. I don't want you to see even the faith that Abram exhibited in his obedience; even though that is a tremendous discussion in and of itself. I want you to see that Abram could indeed obey God, because he had experienced God first hand. God was a part of his history. The Scripture says God "had told" Abram. It was past tense, because Abram had a regular practice of spending time with God. What made Abram special, what made God get involved in his life and change his name to Abraham, the man of faith, is that Abram got to know God in a real and personal way.
Dear friend, if you are struggling in your relationship with the Lord, if you just can't seem to "get it all together" in your Christian walk, if there just doesn't seem to be the spiritual growth you desire and that you see in others, perhaps you need an encounter with the Living God. Perhaps you need to make God a part of your daily life, and tomorrow you can say "God had said".
God wants to talk with you. He wants you to know Him better. Why not start today? Who knows, He might even give you a new name!
