The Washington times., 1913-02-15

that He would make Of Abraham 4
great nation and bless him and make
his name great, and cause him to be a
blessing to others. blessing them that
blessed Abraham. and cursing those
who cursed IYbraham, promising Abra-
ham further that in thee shall all
families of the earth be blessed So at
the age of sevent-five, accompanied by
servants and retinue, and his property.
and possibly accompanied also by some
who had accepted the God Of Abraham,
he journeyed u distance of 900 miles
to Canaan. named from a son of Ham.
Abraham and those with him then pass
ed on southwark to the plain Of Moreh.
in Shechem. The Canaanite a race
descended from Ham, very idolatrous
people, lived there when Abraham en-
tered The Lord now promised Abra-
ham that he would give this land
to Abraham's descendants. Abraham
thereupon built an altar unto the Lord,
and removed TO a site between Bethel
and Hal. about twelve miles north Of
Jerusalem, where he built another altar
unto Jehovah, and called upon the
journey was not yet completed. and he
continued on TO the southwark, toward
the dry region" in the southern dis
trict of Palestine, on the road toward
Egypt.
Possibly Abraham's journey to Ca
naan was guided by some visible mani
festation of God, like the Star of the
East, or the pillar of fire by night and
the cloud by day, of later time, or his
life's journey may have been directed by
the Almighty, as yours and mine, IN u
way unseen and unneard.
Can we not see, also, in Gods call to
Abraham an early example of the sum-
mons that all through the ages God has
been giving to his children? We are
called says DR.. Abbott, whenever we
q, SnS tn oil hns
life or to some special divine action; We
make our calling and election sure when
We are obedient to the voice divine.
Nor need we fear when We hear God s
voice calling us to take up some burden,
some duty, some cross, for with the
sumrAons comes the gentle admonition,
as Peter and the apostles heard it from
the lips of the Master, across the wa
ters of Galilee: BE not afraid: it is |. ,
And. too, we have the same assurance
as did Abraham. that our obedience viii
be crowned with blessing, for ourselves
and for others.
There is thought applicable to pres
ent day needs that should be brought
out here, and that is, that when Abra-
ham went on his journey he took Eis
religion and God with him. Some oil
our young people-yes, and older peo-
,le, too-in these hurried days don't
always do that. God might well so
with His children today on the summer
Ndcdllon- INTO tne OInceS ana stores ana
factories and homes. We may well sus-
pect that some of the children of God
nowadays go to places they would sort
of hate to have God go along also. The
lack of space prevents our mentioning
them in detail; think them over for
yourselves.
And then a last thought. and that is,
that Abraham's call from on high in
volved journeying step by step. First he
was called to go TO Moreh. then on to q
place near Bethel, and thence on toward
the south. And So, when we are called
to service by the Father. We can not
always See clear to the end of the jour-
'neT. but we can heed the call and pro-
coed to the first stopping place, there to
receive further orders. Life and duty
and work. says Peloubet will unfold
themselves to us as We obey the call.
No one knows beforehand the way in
which God will lead him We are re-
minded of the lines of that Beautiful
hymn, which was the favorite of our
late-martyred President:
Il do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for
me-
Can not Gods children everywhere
renew their covenant with Him heed
ing the call as did Abraham. and then.
day by day, step by step. obey the or
dcrs of the Great Commander?
ii go where YOU want me to go. dear
Lord
Der mountain or plain or sea.
II say what you want me to say, dear
Lord,
III be what you want me to be.