Since the beginning of time God has been looking for men called to act: called to lead. In fact, you are that man. God has given you tremendous resources: power, dominion, authority, voice, and even a moral code to lead out in faith.
God’s quest for a man capable of leading goes back to the dawn of time. God handcrafted us in his image. By his own hand he crafted man, gender male, and designed us by his hand with his own image in mind for us; what an honor! There had to be a reason for God to create us so thoughtfully; he must have created us with intent. From the creation of Adam God was looking for a man who would represent him, live by his values, stand tall in faith, love him completely, and steward all that he had created.
Abraham was one of these men called to act. Abraham is known as the “father of faith” and the “father of nations.” This identity stays with him throughout the Bible. Even today he is frequently identified as an example of what it means to live faithfully as a man, husband, father, and leader. He is a man who cashed it all in, leaving his homeland and all its comforts to follow God to a land he had not seen and knew nothing about. He was called to act, given nothing except a single mandate by God, and in faith he pulled up the tent stakes, turned to his wife, and said, “We’re going.” God called, and Abraham responded, “I’m all in!” even when he had no idea where he was going. He had no directions, no step-by-step map, no G.P.S., and no idea of the challenges he would encounter along the way. The impulse of apathy often convinces a man to rely on the routine and cling to current comforts. Not Abraham. He saw well beyond the apathy of the moment into God’s vision for his future. He was called to act.
The book of Hebrews says this about him:
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Hebrews 11:8–10
We learn a lot about Abraham from this short account of his life. Abraham did what some men would never do. He did it because he knew God’s vision for his future was greater, grander, and better than his present small, limited, and myopic view. Abraham gives all men a glimpse of the man we want to be; of the man God wants us to be, a man whose vision is God’s vision, not compromised by human reality and impossibility; a man who responds to his call and called to act in faith, not paralyzed by fear; a man who holds a long view and does not let short-term concerns deter him; a man who focuses on identifying and taking the next step, rather than worrying about the gap in the distance between the present and the future; a man who will remain committed to a God-sized reality no matter how long it lies beyond his view.
Who doesn’t want to be more like Abraham? And he is just one of many all-in men. There are more—and you’re among them. You are one who is called to act.
This article is an excerpt from Vince Miller’s book, Called to Act.
