Run Free — Answering The Call - A Redeeming The Time Blog

Run Free

By Grant Gaines

If someone were to chisel out a “Mount Rushmore” for Christianity you would have a lot of candidates to pick from (outside of the obvious “shoe-in’s” of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). You might consider putting David, Paul, Peter, John, Elijah, Moses, Jacob, or possibly even Joseph. All of these would make great choices, but personally I don’t think they hold a candle to Abraham.

Abraham was the first patriarch listed in the Bible, and it was through Abraham’s offspring that we are introduced to the nation of Israel. Aside from Moses, no other Old Testament character is mentioned in the New Testament as much as Abraham-not David, Solomon, or Elijah-no one! He is described as “a friend of God” (James 2:23) and the “father of our faith” (Romans 4:16). Needless to say, Abraham is a rather central figure to Christianity.

With so much weight and importance resting on this one man’s shoulders, I want to look at a “golden thread” that we see sprinkled throughout the life of Abraham that is often overlooked. It’s the constant theme of God telling Abraham to rid his life of seemingly innocent people or possessions.

The first time we see this theme is right before God gives Abraham what we call the “Abrahamic Covenant” in Genesis 12:2-3. The Abrahamic Covenant is where God gives Abraham a three-pronged promise: the Promised Land, an unmeasurable number of descendants (one of which would be the Messiah), and an unfathomable amount of blessing. Talk about a great three-for-one deal right there!

But as I mentioned earlier, before God ever gave Abraham this incredible promise, He commanded Abraham to, “…Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1, NIV).

Just one short chapter later, after Abraham had left his country and people, we read of God blessing Abraham after he parted ways with his nephew Lot. And finally, after the birth of Abraham’s long awaited son Isaac, we read that God encouraged Abraham to get rid of his mistress Hagar and the son they had together, Ishmael.

Was Abraham’s homeland-Ur- a bad place? Well, we can’t know for certain but there is nothing in Scripture to indicate that Ur was a rough place to live when God commanded Abraham to leave. Was Lot a bad guy? He may have made some bad real estate investments by choosing to build a home and raise a family in Sodom and Gomorrah, but we’re told in 2 Peter 2:7-8 that Lot was actually a righteous man even though God told Abraham to part ways with him. And were Hagar and Ishmael bad people when God told Abraham to send them away? Nowhere in Scripture does it indicate that this is the case.

So why then, did God command Abraham to leave all of these harmless people and possessions behind? I think Hebrews 12:1 (NIV) will help us answer the question- “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Notice the two things that verse commands us to get rid of-the sin that entangles and, “…everything that hinders….” Isn’t that interesting? Not only are we commanded to get rid of sins from our lives (obviously), but we are also commanded to get rid of anything that might slow us down in this race of life.

What are some hindrances? Well, for Abraham, apparently his homeland, his nephew, and his mistress and son were hindrances that kept him from achieving the level of blessings that God desired for him. For us, hindrances may include sports, money, hobbies, food, health, beauty, knowledge, status, etc. Really, a hindrance is anything that slows us down from running towards God. And as can clearly be seen with Abraham, a hindrance doesn’t necessarily have to be something that’s sinful.

In fact, I believe one of Satan’s greatest weapons to hinder a believer’s walk with the Lord is by using something that no one would title a “sin.” And that’s exactly what he’s hoping for. No one would look at the amount of time you spend working out as a “sin,” but if the time in the gym keeps you from getting time in the Word, is that not a hindrance? Your spouse or friends might not view your love for certain TV shows as a “sin,” but the second that TV show distracts you from loving on other people, it’s a hindrance.

Hindrances are undetected distractions that keep you from walking in the ways of the Lord. And as we just looked at, these hindrances are typically the farthest thing from what we would classify as a “sin.”

So what hindrances might you have in your life? Why don’t you take a brief moment to ask God to reveal to you what is keeping you from walking completely in His ways. After all, if it wasn’t until Abraham got rid of all his hindrances before experiencing the full blessing God intended to give him, what blessings might you be missing out on?