“Now the LORD said to Abram, “1Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; “Gen 12:1

During the past few years, I have had the privilege to host tours here in Israel. Before every tour that comes, I ask God to give me a theme for the tour. Early this morning as I was reading from the Parasha (the weekly Scripture portion that is read in the synagogues), I received the theme for our current tour, which is “Go Forth”.

Later in the day, the tour arrived at Herod Springs, which is the place where Gideon chose the 300 men for the battle with the Mideonites. It was at that place that I wanted to share with the group about the theme of the tour. Upon our arrival, I noticed a beautiful rainbow in the skies, which was a great reminder of God’s faithfulness and a sign that He is with us. It reminded me that when God calls us, He also promises to be with us. Just as He called Abram (that was his name before he became Abraham) to give up everything that he knew, God also gave him the promise of a blessing.

“And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Gen 12:2-3

God called Abram to leave everything that he knew – his country, family, friends – in other words everything that was within his comfort zone, and go to a place that God would show him. This act required a lot of faith and a lot of trust on Abram’s part.  It is not easy to leave everything and everyone you know, and to go to a place that is completely foreign, a place that is outside your comfort zone… a place where you need to fully depend on the Lord for everything.

I believe God’s call for Abram is actually something that He calls each of us who calls him/herself a follower of the Messiah to. He calls us to leave our “comfort zones” daily, and to go forth in following God every step of the way, trusting Him for every single thing.

The key words are “Go forth”.  Even as followers of the Messiah we tend to stay in the same place spiritually, in those places that we know and where we feel safe. I would like to challenge all of us that the only place of true safety is within the center of God’s will, even if that defies all logic and “common sense”.

What is God calling you to leave behind?  What is he asking you to trust Him with? Are you stuck in the same place or are you moving forth, trusting in Him?

Shabbat Shalom,

Moran