Immigrant

A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.

Genesis 14:13

Abram the Hebrew. 

The word Hebrew itself means “the immigrant.” The people God set apart for Himself were immigrants. An immigrant is defined as a person who leaves one country to settle permanently in another.

This is where we find Abram. He has left his country to settle permanently in another. He is determined to travel until he reaches that other land, a place of hope and promise. Abram’s hope is gigantic, bigger than what he sees around him, for his hope comes from the promise of God.

Along the way, he lives in a land not his own. A land belonging to someone else, handed down by a family not his own, to sons and brothers not his kin. He has to navigate languages and customs unfamiliar to him and foods that don’t quite satisfy his longing for comfort. Yet he is determined to dwell there because his eyes are not set on what he sees around him, but on what he cannot see with human sight.

He travels in stages, dwelling, then going. Dwelling, then going. Resting place by resting place, he builds altars to the Lord. Abram is becoming a worshiper as he sojourns, between countries.

Like our spiritual father Abram, we who believe in Jesus are immigrants. #faith Click To Tweet

We have left the country called This World and we are seeking another country called the Kingdom of God. It is a place of hope and promise. Our hope is gigantic, bigger than what we see around us, for our hope comes from the the promise of God, sealed and guaranteed through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We travel in stages, dwelling in His presence, then going. Dwelling , then obeying. Resting place by resting place, we build altars of gratitude and remembrance to the Lord for His leading and His promise. We are becoming worshipers as we sojourn, between countries.

We have a guidebook, called the Bible. It shows us when to turn right or left, when to fix our eyes straight ahead. It instructs us how to discern traps along the way and live peacefully with other travelers and strangers. It comforts our fears and helps us be brave. It serves as a reminder to us who would fix our eyes on citizenship in another country, that is, our heavenly country which cannot be seen with human eyes.

Abram’s story is there, encouraging us to persevere.

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

 

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:20

Immigrants see with eyes of faith. They are fixed on hope, the evidence of things unseen yet known as surely as the foreign ground on which they stand, the immigrant office brick and mortar they wait in front of, the sounds of the language foreign to their ears as they comfort their crying babies and stand obediently in line waiting for human authority to give them an audience. 

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Through Jesus, our citizenship is guaranteed. We do not need a letter justifying our worthiness. His death is our letter, his resurrection our passport. Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King. Let’s hold on together as we journey on.

Faith is seeing through eyes of hope. 

Lord, I remind my soul today that my citizenship is in heaven. Thank You for making me an heir of Abram’s promise through Jesus. Amen.

@audreycfrank

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