Following God's covenant with Noah we today meditated on Abraham's call.  In what many would consider old age Abram is called to leave all things secure and follow God to a land unknown to him.  Then at the age of 99 he is told that Sarah will bear him a son and he would be the father of many nations and have descendants. This call is unique because God wants to enter into a relationship with Abraham and he experiences communion with God.  Abraham discovers that God is with him.  Even when he fails to trust and tells people that Sarah is his sister to save himself God still is with him. Even when Sarah tries to rush the process of having a son by letting Abraham get her maid servant pregnant God is with them.   The communion reached its climax when God tested Abraham.  I could not help thinking about the fact that Abraham was willing to obey God to the point of sacrificing his only son on the alter.  This was the thing he was promised. This was his future. Through Isaac his name would continue and the promise God made fulfilled. Abraham's obedience thrilled God.  His delight is expressed when God swore by Himself that now He knew he could trust Abraham and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sand by the seashore. 

God's relief in that passage of scripture is palpable.  His deliverance immediate.  With alacrity he provides a ram to sacrifice on the alter instead of Isaac.  God tested Abraham to the limits and Abraham passed with flying colors because of the communion they shared.  Nothing else could have enable Abraham to endure such a trial.   

It is an honor to be counted as one of those stars in the sky or one of those grains of sand in the seashore - to be one of the many descendants of this father of many nations.   The reason we can enjoy communion with God and each other is because Jesus was obedient unto death.   It had always been God's plan to save us.  God's covenant with Abraham proved that His work could be carried out in human flesh. 

The communion that Abraham shared with God is the same privilege we enjoy.  Thank you El-Shaddai.  

Sharon W.