"They desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. "
Hebrews 11:16
NO GOING BACK
Read It: Genesis 24:1-9; Hebrews 11:15-16 What a great passage to finish up the work week! These verses show us that the person of faith focuses on the future rather than the past. See, Abraham could have gone back to Ur. He could have called his realtor and canceled the closing on the house. But he didn't go back because he wasn't thinking back. Neither were these other people of faith. If you are going from Ur to Canaan but you are thinking only about Ur, you are either not going to get to Canaan, or you are not going to enjoy being in Canaan because your mind isn't there. Fundamentally, living by faith is a matter of the mind. It's very clear from Genesis 24 what Abraham was thinking about and where his heart and mind were. He made his servant swear an oath that he would never take Isaac back to the land of Ur. Better to have him be a single man in Canaan than find a wife and settle down in Ur. Much later Israel got stuck in the wilderness because they kept reflecting ing on Egypt.
Every time God said, "Go to Canaan," they said, "Oh, but back there in Egypt..." Many of us can't enjoy the Christian life because we are thinking about how much fun the world used to be. We're thinking about the garlic and the leeks back in Egypt, and we are stuck out here in the wilderness with manna. Well, I'm here to tell you that if you start thinking like that, you're looking at about forty years of aimless wandering in your Christian pilgrimage. grimage. The person of faith is looking to tomorrow, as hard and as far away as it may look. Biblical faith says, "God, I am looking at Your tomorrow" Now what's back there maybe enticing. Back there maybe a lot of fun and old friends. But God isn't back there. God left Ur, God left Egypt, and you'll find Him in Canaan. God is in your future. Are you being tempted to look back or even go back today? Claim the promises of God, anticipate them, look ahead to God's future for you. Look ahead to where He is taking you. Think About It A person of faith distinguishes between time and eternity (v. 16).
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