“Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates. They served other gods. Among them was Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. I took Abraham your ancestor from the other side of the Euphrates. I led him around through the whole land of Canaan. I added to his descendants and gave him Isaac.” – Joshua 24:2-3 (CEB)
Before Abraham became the father of faith, he was just a man in a family that served other gods, the same as everyone around them. Joshua doesn’t soften that part of the story to make the family look better than it was. Long ago your ancestors served other gods, he says, plainly.
What changes everything isn’t that Abraham was different from his neighbors. It’s that God took him. I took Abraham, God says, not Abraham decided to follow me. This whole six-week story starts here, with God reaching into an ordinary, god-serving family and choosing to make something new out of it.
Most of us didn’t start out choosing God either. Somewhere back in your story, before you ever chose anything, who reached in first?
God who chooses ordinary families, thank you for reaching into my story before I knew to look for you. Help me trust you are still leading me somewhere good. Amen.