Bible Studies

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The Scriptures
Genesis 12:1-4a - Opening the Faucet
Key Verses: (NRSV)

• 1: "Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you." - God had not been pleased with how the people in Babel had focused on themselves instead of God. Many generations had passed before God found the one man on which He could build a model of faithfulness for the world to follow.
  
  
• 2: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing." - God created Abram for a purpose. Blessings are a reward system that carries responsibilities.
  
  
• 3: "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." - All families on earth will be blessed - not just a select few who act or believe in a certain way.
  
  
• 4: "Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him." - And Abram obeyed.
  

Points to Contemplate:

• Do you listen to the Lord? What does He say to you? Does He ask you to look around at your life and take inventory of what is truly important? Does He work at establishing priorities? Does He ask you to relinquish your grasp on things you hold dear? Why would He do this? Is it to help you turn your focus from yourself and towards God? Why did God choose Abram? Is it possible that Abram was simply the first to listen? Are you willing to be like Abram and begin listening to what God has to say to you?
  
  
• Have you been blessed? What is a blessing? Is it a promise to keep you safe and warm? Is it wealth and bounty? Does it mean you will be happy and successful? Will your life be trouble-free? If these things are not happening, if you are always struggling with money and if pain and suffering are constant partners, does this indicate in some way that God's blessings are not flowing your way? Or are you counting the wrong blessings? Is it possible that there is something you are doing to block the flow of God's blessings? Are God's blessings like a water faucet? Have you have stopped the flow of blessings in your life by not being a blessing in the lives you touch? If you are blessed to be a blessing, should your focus be on your blessings or on the blessings you pour out in praise and thanksgiving to the world?
  
  
• Do you take steps of faith? The details of where Abram was going or even how he was going to get there were vague. The promises of what would take place should he choose to go were even vaguer. Abram simply "went" without knowing the details. Are you able to take steps of faith in your life? When God inspires you into a new path, are you a willing participant or do you hang back and wait for more details or assurances? Are you fearful to follow God when you are not certain of the destination?
  

Promises of the Gospel:

"We are blessed to be a blessing." It is our purpose. This covenant between God and Abraham is still in effect in our lives today. Everything God has created us to be is revealed in these verses. If the actions we choose to take in life are not pointed outwardly towards helping and loving others, they are simply not activities of God. The country, land, and people to which we desperately grasp and cling represent the things that God wants us to leave behind so we can step out in faith and follow Him into the kingdom of heaven. "We are blessed to be a blessing." It is a phrase that should resound in our ears and reverberate in our hearts as we listen for the voice of God in our lives. When we stop to listen and turn the focus of our lives on God we will find that we are being led to a wonderful place; a place that only God can reveal.

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