big family

Wednesday March 23rd, Romans 4: 17-18 We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!" I like that vision, first named and then became. You are a child of God, God named you and then God claims you. God has called you before you were born, sanctified you at your birth and commissioned you at your public baptism, and now it is up to you to let God have the reins and let you run to where you have always belonged. Which do you tend more to do, go to church or gather for worship? If it is the former, you are still in charge and your life is going nowhere compared to where it could go if let God have the reins. If you miss worship some Sunday do you have more time for you and your family or do you have an empty feeling inside. If all you’ve gained is more time and maybe an empty laundry basket, you are missing the point of having that time and what life is all about. Live into God’s calling for you and your life, you might have less free time, but every moment will be precious. And by the way.. today is my birthday and I am 62.. if you get a chance send a little prayer my way that I will always be open to God’s calling and vision for my life and my ministry.. thank you.