Abraham was asked by God to leave his country, his people and his family to go to a place God would later show him. Abraham’s response in English is, “So Abram left, as the LORD had told him” (Gen. 12:4). The literal Hebrew translation of the phrase, “as the LORD had told him,” is, “Go for yourself.”
One Hebrew commentator rephrases it like this, “Go for your pleasure and your good.” In other words, “Go for yourself, Abraham, not for Me.” This almost makes it sound like Abraham went to Canaan for selfish reasons.
Before you jump to that conclusion, keep the context in mind. God told Abraham to leave everything behind: his comfort zone, his culture, and his family. Abraham had to leave his way of living, the sources of his drugs of choice and his old influences behind. In light of that statement, God was telling him, “I’m telling you to go, Abraham, because My way of living is the only way you’ll find true pleasure.”
As one author put it, “Abraham understood that the way to true self-fulfillment is through selfless devotion to God. The opportunity to fulfill God’s will offers the profound pleasure of identification with He Who is the Greatest Good.”
It is not selfish to choose to walk with God in order to gain all the good stuff that comes with living in His presence. Why? Because that’s how He created us to live! In fact, part of the biblical definition of faith is that you must believe He is good and “rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). Faith does has it benefits, long lasting ones.
“S”et Free Nowww