i will make your name great so you are a blessing to others

​There's this crazy story in chapter 12 of the book of Genesis about a guy named Abram. The story starts like this:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

That's right. God just shows up in this guy's life - a guy who was, in those times, living the good life - and God says, follow me, and I'll show you a whole new land.

That's not even the CRAZIEST part of the story.

Two verses later we get that. Because without any indication that Abram said let me think about it, let me get my affairs in order, let me talk this over with the family - without any of that - the story jumps right to:

So Abram went......

There's a critical part of this story we often miss. God said he was sending Abram on this journey to make Abram's name great, SO THAT he would be a blessing to OTHERS.

Oh how I often overlook the SO THAT in my journey.

All along the stops of Abram's journey, he built altars. He built altars so God would know Abram was still with him on this journey. He built altars so others would know God had been there.

If you follow God, then he's inserted himself into your life. He has said to you, like he said to Abram, follow me. I have this cool land I want to show you. Come on, don't waste time, I'm going to make you great so you can be a blessing to others.

This morning, I'm asking myself, as someone who longs to see this cool place God wants to show me, am I on this journey with God to make my name great, or am I on it to be a blessing to others.

Because we live in a world that encourages us to pursue personal greatness at all costs. We live in a world where no matter how deeply we long to follow God, we can get blinded to the big SO THAT in the Genesis story.

So that you will be a blessing.

What altars am I leaving behind in my walk through this world?

When I journey through the lives of others in this world, what altar do they remember about our engagement.

When I walk away from those engagements, am I hoping people will remember me - or God - and which one will they remember.

Like Abram, we are all building altars all along this journey we are on. Every one of us is. The question is, are they altars that celebrate and reflect our own personal greatness, or are they altars that are blessing to others?