Abraham lived in a land where the people worshipped false idols. One day the true living God spoke to him. "Leave this country. Go to the land that I will show you. Then I will bless you and make your family into a great nation."

    Abraham was already 75 years old. He and his wife Sarah did not have any children. Could God make the two of them into a nation? Abraham obeyed, and traveled for 25 years to where the Lord led him. Then God gave Abraham and Sarah a son, Isaac. Because Abraham had great faith, God gave the land of Israel to his descendants.

     F. B. Meyer writes of Abraham’s obedience, "There is nothing that God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; who then finds rock beneath him as he puts his foot down." Isaac saw that truth unfold in front of him. He saw how God would provide in even the most unlikely of circumstances–if he would just obey Him.
     God promised Abraham he would be the father of many nations, but He called Abraham to be a father to Isaac first. One of the greatest callings on any man’s life is to father his children in a way that is pleasing to God, to teach them the importance of obedience to God and reliance upon Him and Him alone.
     No, Abraham wasn’t called to be a king. He wasn’t even called to be a governor. He was called to be a father, to teach Isaac to seek earnestly after God. As Abraham neared death after 175 years on earth, he recognized this was the greatest call God placed on his life. The reward for Abraham was eternal. "It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac …" (Genesis 25:11).