Even though it was due to Abraham’s particular situation that he was commanded to leave his own country and go to a distant land, and God led him from place to place, nonetheless these words symbolize the calling that all of us receive. We are not simply commanded to leave our country, we are commanded to deny ourselves. We are not commanded to leave our father’s house, but to bid farewell to our own will and to the desire of our human nature. And [whatever things] hinder us from following God, we must forsake them all.
Abraham was simply commanded to depart, and we are also commanded to do so under certain conditions. If in any place we cannot serve God, we must choose to go into exile rather than to stay in our nest, inactive and depressed.
Therefore, let us keep the example of Abraham before our eyes. He is the father of all the faithful, and was tested and tried in every way. Yet he forgot his own country, his friends, and even himself so that he might yield himself completely to God (Rom. 4:16-17).
If we want to be numbered among God’s children, we must not fall short of the example of Abraham [and Sarah].
Acts 7:3, Commentary
Abraham and Sarah are an example of the vocation in us all. For in them we perceive that, by the mere mercy of God, those things which are not are raised from nothing, in order that they may begin to be something.
Genesis 12:1ff, Commentary
God gifts and calls us so that His glory may shine through us
“That you may declare…”
Peter carefully points out the goal of our calling…to move us to give glory to God. The sum of what he says is that God has favored us with these immense benefits which He constantly manifests to us, in order that His glory might be known through us. By “virtues” he means wisdom, goodness, power, righteousness and everything else in which the glory of God shines forth. It also behooves us to these virtues not only by our tongue but also by our whole life. This teaching ought to be the subject of daily meditation…something that we continually remember. Indeed, all God’s blessings which He gives us are intended for this purpose – that His glory might be proclaimed through us.
1 Peter 2:9, Commentary
No comments:
Post a Comment