Reading the Bible 6: Gen 12-15

I find God’s call of Abram to be both reassuring and unsettling at the same time.  I am doing this as a retirement project so the implication is that I am not young.  The fact that God’s call came when Abram was less than young resonates with me.  I guess you just never know when it might come.  To respond to a call that upends your life may be okay when you’re young and ready for an adventure is one thing but it doesn’t seem so appealing in – shall I say – late middle age.  Perhaps there might be a small comparison to moving into a cottage on P.E.I. for the summers but that really is a bit of a stretch.  However, it is probably all the adventure I can take at this point.

The other thing that resonates with me in Abram’s story is that God makes his promise to Abram more than once.  In chapter 12 at the beginning of the call he promises to make of Abram a great nation and in Chapter 15 he promises it again – Abram’s descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens.  It is comforting to know that Abram needed the promise restated more than once - and more than twice looking ahead.  I believe that God’s promises to us need to be renewed at various times throughout our lives.  They may change in detail as we change but the ground of our relationship does not change.