A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers  

Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whether he went.”  A man was lost in the desert and was near death for lack of water. His throat was dry and parched, and his strength was almost gone.  Soon he came across an old pump with a canteen hung on the handle and a note. The note read as follows: “Below you, under the pump, in the ground, is all the fresh water you could ever need.  The canteen contains exactly enough water to prime the pump.  Pour the contents of the canteen into the pump.  Afterward, fill the canteen back, for the next person who comes along.”  What would you do?  It would be a great temptation, to be near death due to thirst, to simply drink the contents of the canteen.  But it would take great faith in the words of the unknown author of the note, to pour the entire contents of the canteen into the old pump, for the promise of unlimited water.  What if the pump didn’t work?  What if the note was a farce?  Look at our Scripture lesson today.  Abraham was called by the Lord, out of the comfort zone of what he knew—his homeland in Ur of the Chaldees, which is southern Iraq today—to go to a place he had never been, and embark upon a journey with his family, not knowing beforehand how he would journey, or how he would be sustained until he arrived.  Abraham demonstrated great faith, in the word of God.  He was confident, that the God, who had called him, was the same God who would provide for him and his family until hearrived in the Promised Land.  The journey of faith is not an easy one for our rational minds.  Trusting God requires us many times to forsake what we know, in favor of what God knows.  Simply put; to live by faith means we must trust God in all circumstances.  Friend, no matter what circumstances you are facing today, trust God.  Empty the canteen into the pump.  Believe God’s word.  There is, from your immediate view, an unlimited supply to satisfy all of your needs; bringing you into the satisfying reality, of this new day.