Slices
Prepare
Read 1 John 3:2. Allow God to remind you of who you really are, through Jesus. Can you offer yourself again to become all that he wants you to be?
Bible passage
The call of Abram
12 The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 ‘I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.’
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram travelled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on towards the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
9 Then Abram set out and continued towards the Negev.
Explore
The popular British TV show Who Do You Think You Are? takes a celebrity into their family history. The title implies that your past explains who you are. You are the sum of your history.
Abram’s family history, given in Genesis 11, dominates our introduction to Abram. His life is dictated by his father, who inexplicably makes the decision to leave Ur, the centre of civilisation in the ancient Middle East, planning to take his entire family to Canaan (Genesis 11:31). Abram has no choice. His past is his destiny.
Genesis 12 changes everything. The call of God sets Abram on the path to become the father of all who have faith in God (Romans 4:11). He starts a life not predetermined by his father or ancestors, but by the call of God (12:1). He will leave behind his country, his people and his father’s household. He is an ordinary man, but his response to God’s call gives his life enduring significance. Interestingly, the journey begins with a call to move further in the direction his father has already begun to take him (v 5) – God was already at work in his family.
Respond
Read John 1:11–13. Our identity and destiny depend not on our past but on our response to Jesus now. Is there anything you need to leave behind in order to wholeheartedly embrace God’s call?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Esther 1–3; Psalm 79
Pray for Scripture Union
The team in the south east give thanks for the recent Faith Guide holiday for churches in the London and Essex areas which took place at Stubbers Adventure Centre in Essex. Pray that through the example and love of their leaders, the young people who came will continue to draw closer to God.
Book a brilliant summer holiday!
There’s still time to book your child in for a super summer holiday! We’ve been running action packed faith-filled holidays for over 100 years, and each summer we’ve seen children and young people grow in faith and discover more about Jesus.
