IMITATE THEIR FAITH/SARAH

"GO OUT FROM YOUR LAND"

Sarah likely grew up in Ur.  Today, all that is left of that city is a desolate ruin. But in Sarah's day, merchants' vessels plied the waters and canals of the Euphrates River, bringing precious goods from far and wide to this thriving city. People thronged Ur's narrow, winding streets, ships jostled on another along its wharves, and goods overflowed in its bazaars.  Imagine Sarah growing up in that bustling city, coming to know many of its people by name.  They surely remembered her too, for she was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. She also had a large family there.

Sarah is known in the Bible for her great faith-but it was not faith in the moon-god widely worshipped   in Ur, where a tower to that god loomed over the city. Rather, Sarah worshipped the true God, Jehovah.  In inspired record does not say how she gained that faith.  Her father, for a time at least, was an idolater. At any rate, she married Abraham, a man tens years her senior.  (Genesis 17:17) He late became known as "the father of all those having faith."  (Romans 4:11)  Together  they built a fine, strong marriage, one that was marked with respect, good communication, and a mutual willingness to work through difficult problems together. Above all, though, their union was marked by their love for God. 

Sarah loved her husband dearly, and the two set up their home among their relatives in Ur.  Before long, though, they faced  a disappointment.  The Bible tells us that Sarah "was barren; she had no child."  (Genesis 11:30) In that culture and time, Sarah's condition was particularly trying.  But Sarah stayed true to her God and to her husband.  Their fatherless nephew Lot evidently became like a son to them. Life went on-until the day when  everything changed.

Abraham came to Sarah brimming with excitement. He could hardly believe what had just happened.  The God they worshipped had just spoken to him-had even appeared to him, no doubt  by means of an angel!  Imagine Sarah, her lovely eyes intent on her husband breathlessly asking:  "What did he say to you?  Please tell me!"  Perhaps Abraham first sat down to collect his thoughts; then he told her what Jehovah had said:  "Go out from your land and from your relatives and come into the land that I will show you." (Acts 7:2, 3) After the initial excitement abated, they contemplated the assignment Jehovah was putting before them. They were to leave their stable, comfortable life and live as nomads!  How would Sarah respond? No doubt Abraham watched her keenly.  Would she willingly support him in such a great change in their life? 

The choice facing Sarah may sound foreign to us. We might think, 'Well, God has never asked me or my spouse to do anything like that!'  Nonetheless,  do we not all face a similar choice?  We live in a materialistic world,  one that may urge us to put first in life our own comforts, our possessions, or our sense of security.  But the Bible urges us to make another choice-to seek the spiritual things first, to put pleasing God ahead of pleasing ourselves.  (Matthew 6:33) As we contemplate  what Sarah did, we might ask ourselves, 'What choice will I make in life?' 

Next time: IMITATE THEIR FAITH/SARAH -THEY "WENT OUT OF THE LAND" 

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