Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Have you ever thought of Abraham as a lonely man? You remember, he is "the father of all those who believe" (Rom. 4:11), and therefore your "father" in the faith. If Abraham was a lonely man, and yet God was with him, there is encouragement that the Lord can be with you even if you serve Him as a lonely person.
In Isaiah 51:2 the Lord says, "I called [Abraham] alone," or as the Hebrew says, "I called him when he was but one, and blessed him, and increased him." Thus it appears that Abram (his name at first) was the only person in the world who worshipped the true God when God called him.
We know that his father Terah worshipped idols (Joshua 24:2) while living in a community that worshipped the moon (Ur of the Chaldeans). Maybe we should revise that, and say that Abram was the only person of his generation who worshipped the true God, because Shem was still living, somewhere. But being hundreds of years old, maybe Shem was no longer able to do the kind of witnessing work that God was calling Abram (later named Abraham) to do.
Evidently from a very early age, Abram knew that it was wrong to worship the moon, and probably tried to persuade his brother Haran and his father Terah to recognize the one true God who created the moon (with some success it seems, for Terah's family always had some knowledge of the truth).
But how do you remain faithful to God when you are all alone? And how do you worship an invisible God when everybody around you wants some idol or heavenly body to be His presence, to represent Him? Get acquainted with your "father" Abraham!
Today, you may be alone (or as the Hebrew says, "but one") in your family or your village, or your school, or (God forbid!) even in your church (if that's true, your church needs you as a witness for Him!). Well, God specifically says, "Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you" (Isa. 51:2). Let your faith demonstrate that you are indeed a child of Abraham. He "believed in the Lord" (Gen. 15:6). Now, you do the same. Then you won't remain alone ("but one") for Isaiah says that "[God] increased him."
Evidently it's impossible to remain alone.
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 4, 2003.
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