[Scripture: Hebrews 11:8-10]
Today’s sermon point is how to become a successful person in God. A successful person is one who has received spiritual and material blessings and passes on those blessings to their children. Who do you think is the most successful individual in the Bible? I believe he was Abraham. The life of Abraham is the best example of how we receive and possess God’s blessings as our own and pass them on to our children.
Spiritual blessing means that he had a right relationship with God. He had ears to hear God’s voice, eyes to see God’s work, and had spiritual wisdom and discernment to recognize God’s angels among strangers. In Psalms 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the starting point and essence of wisdom and understanding or discernment”.
Material blessings meant that he raised livestock to an uncountable number, and his employees numbered in the thousands, including children. So, while Lot was being held captive, he raised 318 warriors to rescue Lot.
I know a business man who was totally ruined his business and bankrupted. He left a coin in his hands. He was disappointed and felt a feeling of suicide. One day, he got a phone call from previous customers, and they said that they will help him get back in business. His business went bankrupt, but he did not lose people with their help. He was able to get his business back on track.
Do you know what made him the most blessed person in the Bible? He walked the path God had told him to go and pitched a tent there. When he settled, he dug up wells. Wherever he went, he dug and found a well. In the day of Abraham, the well was a fortune and a source of wealth because the main industry is stock farming. It seems like a miner digging up and find a vein of gold that make him rich.
In verse 8, “By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place, he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Through that simple process, Abraham became the most successful man in the Bible. The road that Abraham walked is called a higher ground.
To walk on the higher ground means to uphold the Christian faith and its values until he receive the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. That was Abraham’s spiritual value and identity as person of God. It is the source that made him spiritually and materially rich in the Bible.
Three major ways
There are three major routes in ancient Israel
- King’s highway
- The way of Merchants
- The way of Patriarch
The King’s Highway was a very important route between Babylon and Persia in ancient Israel. The road was used as a diplomatic channel for the envoys who delivered the king’s letter.
The way of the sea was the road of merchants. An ancient trade route linking Egypt and the Mesopotamian Empire. Merchants took this road to do sales and buying businesses, and this is where the entertainment industry developed.
The Way of the Abraham is an ancient north-south route traveling the land of Israel. It was frequently traveled by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is also called the Hill Road because it follows the watershed and ridgeline. It was the way that Abraham used this route from Shechem (he built an altar), Bethel (he had first built an altar), Jerusalem, Hebron to Beersheba.
Story of Abraham
In Genesis 13:5-18, when Abraham and his nephew Lot’s possessions were so great that they could not be dwelling together. In verse 8, “Then Abram said to Lot, “Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered, so he moved to a lower land near Sodom and Gomorrah. In that land, Lot lost everything and fled from there to higher land to save his life.
Abram moved and settled at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord. As long as Abraham was on higher ground, he prospered, and he looked like an untouchable giant in faith while he stand on the higher ground.
However, there are two occasions in Genesis where Abraham moved to lower land. The first was in Egypt because of famine in Genesis 12:10. The other was in Gerar, near the Philistine Merchant’s way in Genesis 20:1. He experienced his identity crises whenever he moved to the lowlands, where he nearly lost his wife twice to the kings. For his own safety, Abraham told people Sarah was his sister and handed over to another man’s wife. In the lower lands, Abraham lost his spiritual identity, personal integrity, and moral values as a person of God and lost his positive influence to serve and protect his family and others.
Value of Chick-fil-A
I heard some rumors when I came to Carleton to serve church. The first rumor that I heard is a famous restaurant chain is coming to the Monroe area. After hearing the rumors last July, Lisa was excited because she likes chicken nuggets. Last Monday, I was curious about the development story, so I googled it.
The Monroe News reported on October 23, 2021, “Chick-fil-A drive-thru allowed.” I’m not a huge fan of Chick-fil-A. However, many people seem to like the restaurant because Chick-fil-A secured the number one spot for the seventh consecutive year consumers satisfaction. Almost every time I passed a restaurant, I saw too many cars lined up in the drive-thru.
I searched Google to see why so many people like Chick-fil-A. Found the article. The title was “15 Reasons Chick-fil-A Is America’s Best Fast-Food Chain”. The author said the first reason is because of the people who work there. They always try to make sure that you’re taken care of. The second is their value. The restaurant is a Christian-based fast-food chain that closes on Sundays so employees can take a day’s break to rest and worship God. The third reason is the quality of the food.
It was thought that the quality and taste of the food is the reason consumers rated Chick-fil-A highly. However, the first reason that consumers evaluate the restaurant is not the taste and quality of the food, but the attitude towards their customers and their beliefs and values of life.
This story shows that faith and values are the most important things in maintaining a Christian’s reputation.
Conclusion
Abraham did not possess land and buildings but was rich in people to serve and take care of them.
Abraham did not have political power but was rich in the positive influence to help people to stay on the soiled ground. Abraham did not earthly and visible promise but was rich in God’s promise as an inheritance for him and his children’s generation that was unseen and eternal.
Do you maintain Christian spiritual identity, personal integrity, and Christian moral values as a person of God in your daily life? Do you have a good and positive Christian influence on your family and neighbors? If you do, you are standing on the right track.
If you are not, please, remember the story of Abraham and his life’s journey to walk a higher ground. For Abraham, the higher ground is the place to build an altar and worship God. Abraham always walked this route from Shechem (he built an altar), Bethel (he had first built an altar), Jerusalem (he built an altar), Hebron to Beersheba (Isaac built an altar). The place of worship was Abraham’s higher ground to receive blessings of God and protected from his enemy.
Where is your higher ground for strengthening your Christian identity? the place of worship God is the place that Christian can taste the grace of God and blessings of God. The Bible says that the church is Christian higher ground. Because the Church is built on the body of Christ. He is the rock. He is the unshaken foundation of God.
2021.11.28. Pastor Cloud Poy
@ Photo on Unsplash
