"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn. Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many." (Isaiah 51:1-2)
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves." So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
The test comes for our sake not for God's.
"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom it was said, 'Through Isaac shall your descendants be named.' He considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead; hence, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back."
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only So n, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." {John 3:16)
"Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad." (John 8:5 2)
Is lying a sin? [cf. Genesis 12:10-20]
Sarah's "ingenuity'' [cf. Genesis 16]
Abraham's objections & Sarah's laughter at God's plan [cf. Genesis 18:9-15]
Abraham was called from what was familiar to a land that God would show him. Have you ever been "called out" by God? What is God asking you to leave behind
Abraham was called to offer his son Isaac. Has your faith ever been tested in this way? Is God first in your life?
Abraham and his wife journeyed for many years without God fulfilling His promises to them. Can you relate to that experience? What legacy do you want to leave for your children grandchildren?