Ur of the Chaldees: a city of a considerable civilisation. A people, many of whom were advanced in mathematics, with a love for music, sciences and the arts. Prominent among the buildings of Ur would have been the huge Ziggurat, a brick tower with a temple at the top, where sacrifices were made to the gods and deities that they worshiped.
Abram, later to be Abraham, a descendent of Shem, with his family lived in this city. Scripture tells us that they worshiped ‘other gods'. How quickly they had absorbed the culture of Ur, and seemingly lost their knowledge of the true God. We should treasure the knowledge of God, because as we have seen it is so easy to lose it. Things that have an abiding relevance to us as Christians, the distinctive nature of The Lord's Day, the place of the Bible, God's Moral Law, the Ten Commandments, are under attack by the culture of our day and generation. How firm are our convictions on these things?
What did the Lord require of Abraham? To get out! He was called to something better. He was given great and precious promises. By faith he “looked for a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God”. Great prospects and a new destination awaited him. All nations were to be blessed ‘in him'.
Dear friend, our pilgrimage is not one of uncertainty. Hear, as Abraham heard, the call of God, to build your life on something that will last forever, Christ, His promises and the prospect of Heaven! |
