How do I get there from here?
The Lord had said to Abraham, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1)
Abraham (Father of Many) did not have a Global Positioning System (GPS), Google maps or Map Quest. In fact, he didn’t want to go anywhere. He and his wife Sarah had settled in a place called Haran. According to their plans, they likely intended on staying there for a while.
According to God’s plans, Abraham eventually made a big difference in his life and now our lives. God’s plans changed Abraham’s life and ours as well.
If you are like me, I want to go to heaven. I want to go where there is no sin, no sadness, no sickness and no death. I want to go where there is everlasting joy and peace. The question is I ask myself and all others, “How do I get there from here?”
God tells Abraham, “Pack up everything you have, your people, your household and leave.” God didn’t give him a place to go. He simply told Abraham, “Go to the land I will show you.”
So many questions with the same answer: God said, “I will show you.”
- How was Abraham and family going to find the place?
- What was Abraham to do to get there from where he was?
- What was this place going to be like?
- What was going to happen there when he got there?
- How was Abraham to get from where he was to heaven?
- What did Abraham have to do to get to heaven?
- What did he have to pay to earn heaven for himself?
To all of these questions, God angered in His Word, “I will show you.”
God told Abraham that all people on earth would be blessed though him. Descending from Abraham, Jesus, the Savior of the world, was born. God kept His promise. It took many years before Jesus was born, but when the time was right Jesus was born, lived, died and rose again so that you and I can go to heaven. Jesus is the answer to the question of how we can get to heaven. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. God has shown us the way.
After God tells Abraham that He will show him the way, what does Abraham do? We are told, “So Abraham left, as the Lord had told him;” That is faith. Abraham trusted God’s Word.
May the example of Abraham who followed God’s way be an example for all of us. God tells us in His Word how to get to heaven. We have been blessed by what Jesus did for us. Through Jesus, we have forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Let God continue to show us the way.
Know that you cannot find the way to heaven by yourself. Let God show you the way. Trust Him. Believe His Word and promises.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, give me the faith to trust your Word and Promises, so that like Abraham I go where you tell me to go. Amen.