When God gives someone a character-reference you have to sit up and take notice! And what God said about Abraham was: Abraham, my friend (Isa 41:8; cf 2 Chr 20:7; Jas 2:23) I don't think any of us would ask God for a testimonial – but wouldn't we be glad for him to say about us – he or she is my friend?

Our passage today tells us how God's friendship with Abraham began, how Abraham responded to God's call, what lay at the heart of that friendship, and how that friendship was sustained. In later weeks we shall learn how it grew, despite many failures on Abraham's part.

The friendship began with God taking the initiative, as really happens in all friendships with God. From what is said elsewhere (Acts 7:2-4), it seems that God appeared to Abram – for that was his name at first – while he was still in Ur, the city of his birth. There he said to Abram, Leave your country, your people, and your father's household, and go to the land I will show you.

However, at first, he sets out with his father and brothers. They intend to go to Canaan – we don't know why, except that it was a time when many people were on the move in the Near East. But they only got as far as Haran, a city in what is now SE Turkey. There the whole family settles down, and there the father, Terah, dies. At this point it seems God repeated his call to Abram, emphasizing that he needed to leave his family behind – and go to the country God would show him.

The Bible tells us that Terah served other gods (Josh 24:2). His name suggests that, in common with the other inhabitants of both Ur and Haran, Terah worshipped the moon-god. We are not told that he ever came to share his son's faith in the Lord. Friendship with God will inevitably open up a gap between ourselves and even those closest to us, if they do not share that friendship with us.
Do you remember how direct Jesus was with the crowds, when he seemed very popular? He spoke in typical Eastern hyperbole – but his meaning is plain enough – If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.(Luke 14:26) Friendship with God may cost everything – as Abraham was to discover – but it is a privilege, a relationship, with which nothing can compare.

And that needs tremendous emphasis. Terah was an idol worshipper. But in some way, God spoke to Abram and revealed himself as the one, true and living God, who had created the heavens and the earth, the one who was holy and pure.(Gen 14:22; Neh 9:6-7) And he brought Abram out of the darkness of an idolatrous city into the light of a walk with himself for the rest of his days – and forever. (Eph 5:8; 1 Pet 2:9; Psa 18:25-28)

Those who know the true and living God would say that no cost is too great. God loves us and wants to bless us – but for that he wants our undivided love in return. He certainly doesn't want us to come with him only half-way – and then die in Haran.

How did Abram respond to God's call? He obeyed and went – trusting God and his promises. It would have been so easy, wouldn't it, to have put up difficulties? Why don't you tell me where I'm to go – before I set out? How can I become a great nation, if my wife and I can't have children? In any case – my family won't become a great nation until long after I'm dead and gone! I think that's how we would have reacted.

In fact, of course, God does call everyone of us in something of the same way. He calls us out of the darkness of ignorance and sin into his glorious light. He offers us his love and his friendship, and all his riches – that we might share them with others. But he offers it on his conditions. We must leave behind – as Abram did – all that conflicts with that friendship – our disobedience, our distrust – and all that would hinder it – things or relationships that we want to love more.

Let me illustrate that. A father may tell his child not to talk to strangers. The child obeys that instruction because he loves and trusts his father, and believes his father tells him to do things that are for his well-being. But the time may come when he meets a stranger who offers something attractive – and he disobeys his father, because the word of the stranger seems better than his father's. You see, trust and obedience go together. If we say we trust him, but do not obey him – then we don't really trust him either.

Our friendship with God begins when God shows us how much he has loved us in Christ, even to his dying for us on the cross, that our sins might be forgiven. When that really comes home to our hearts – then we really see the character of God, and how he can be trusted. Our response then must be to leave behind our sin and unbelief and trust in God's promise of new life in Christ. And that means a day-by-day commitment to live for him and not for ourselves. Then we shall be following in Abraham's footsteps.

To be a friend of God's means that we shall no longer look elsewhere for our security, and well-being in life, to our bank-balance, to the letters after our name, to our inherited talents or to our family connexions – or to anything else we have – but we shall be relying on God – his promises and his provision for us.

A Christian will therefore never regard himself as a self-made man or woman – but as one who is dependent day-by-day on God. And that will be true whether he is in some secular business or in some so-called spiritual job. Each day there will be choices to make. Choices that will be taken either as a worldly person does – in his own strength and wisdom – or as a Christian should. That means according to God's revealed will where that is plainly applicable – or, where that is not plain, prayerfully, looking to God to lead him step-by-step.

This difference of approach shows up the difference between merely knowing about God – which any of us may do – and actually knowing God – which we can only do by stepping out in trust and obedience. Only then do we discover by experience that God is a living God, whose word may be relied upon. And as he shows us more of himself – he leads us into a growing trust and obedience. Such real response on our part is not only possible – it is vital if we are to begin to know God and enjoy his friendship for ourselves.

When we go out in cold weather we talk about putting on warm clothes. But, of course, clothes can only keep us warm if we are warm. They are no good to a corpse. Similarly, God's promises are of great value to us in this life – provided we have first received God's gift of new life in Christ – and have begun a friendship with him.

The heart of Abram's relationship with God – as ours must be – is that it rests on God's character and reliability. It does not rest on what we are like. Like Abram we are unreliable, frequently at fault, often doubting and fearful. But if we will accept God's friendship for us – he will change us. That's his promise – and his intention. For his character is one of constant, undeserved love towards us.

Look at the promises of blessing that God gave Abram. How does he express it? Five times God says, I will – I will show... I will make... I will bless... It all depends on God, once Abram has set out in faith. These promises God enlarged upon and repeated ten times in Abraham's lifetime – and then he repeated them to the chosen line of his descendents.

These promises were not just for a particular line of descent – but they first had to narrow down to the one person of Jesus Christ. In whom they ultimately found their fulfilment – and only then were they made available to all men and women who put their trust in Christ. (Gal 3:14,16,18,29) Because friendship with God was only possible through God's foreknowledge that Jesus would die for our sins.

The complete and final fulfilment of the promises stretches far beyond their nearer fulfilment in the nation of Israel. Only in Christ is there lasting blessing for all the peoples on earth. And when we trust and obey God, as Abraham did, we become his true descendents, and inheritors of the same promises. (Rom 4:16-17; Gal 3:8-9,29) Paul understands the promise of land made to Abraham, as ultimately meaning that he would be heir of the world (Rom 4:13) along with his descendents. That is, God has promised to us who trust in him – a whole new redeemed world, the heavenly kingdom of the Lord. (Isa 60:21;66:22; 2 Tim 4:18; Heb 11:13-16; Rev 21:1)

But even understood as Abram must have understood the promises, they must have spoken volumes of God's sheer grace and love to him, a man fearful, insecure and longing for a family. That's the way God works – he speaks to our particular need.

Are you conscious of some need or weakness of your own? Then be assured that our God is a great God, well able to meet you at your point of need. Abram knew very little about the true and living God when he started out. We have the advantage of knowing about his love for us in Christ – so we have far more reason to trust him as our heavenly Father.

When two people marry, they ought to know enough about each other to make it sensible to rely on each other's promises – but, of course, the reality that lies behind those promises will be discovered as they live out that relationship together. So it is with us and God, except that his word is utterly reliable. Nevertheless, as with Abraham, many of God's promises to us cannot see immediate fulfilment. So our trust must rest on what we already know about God, and on what he has already done for us. That's why it's so important to begin with a real awareness that our sins have been forgiven, and a new relationship begun with the Lord Jesus Christ.

When God assured Abram that the land, he now saw with his eyes, was the land he had promised to bring him to – God went on to promise that he would give that land to Abram's descendents. (Gen 12:6; 13:15) For that he just had to go on trusting God – there was no way he could see that! And it wouldn't have seemed very likely, for the land was already well-peopled by the Canaanites – and there was no sign that Abram was going to have a family at all!

It would be no good Abram's relying on his feelings – he had to rely on the greatness of God, God's promise and his knowledge of God's faithfulness, so far. Facts and not feelings. God's character and constancy – and not the feebleness of my own response and trust. God wants us to trust him and not ourselves – and so he leads us one step at a time.

Ships in wartime sail under sealed orders. Future orders are hidden until the initial command is carried out, and the ship has arrived at some specified location. God will make his will known to us, enough for us to take the next step – provided we have committed ourselves fully to him. The trouble with most of us is that we fail to trust and obey what he has already told us to do. We miss the adventure of faith, and the discovery of God as utterly trustworthy, loving and powerful on our behalf. We need the encouragement of all those who have really put their trust in Abraham's God. An example of a contemporary who has done so, springs to mind.

The story of Jackie Pullinger is told in the book, Chasing the Dragon. She was convinced God was calling her to go out to be a missionary somewhere. She was 21. She didn't know where, she didn't know how. She was trained in music – it didn't seem appropriate to any missionary society – and none offered her any prospects. But the command to go persisted with her, like that command to Abram, until in the end she was encouraged to get a ticket. She bought one for the longest voyage she could afford. It was from France to Japan. She prayed she would know the right place to get off. That proved to be Hong Kong. She had only the equivalent of 9 in her pocket, and was hardly allowed to land with so little. But God went on to do a wonderful work through her, among the drug-addicts and prostitutes of that city – work eventually recognized and assisted by the government there at that time. But all the praise, she knows, should be given to God who called her there. Maybe he is calling you in some special way to put your trust in him.

Finally – how was Abram's friendship with God sustained and strengthened? I believe this passage tells us. The secret lay in worship. Do not misunderstand me. The whole of Abram's life was worship. When he was obeying God's command to travel throughout this promised land – he was no less worshipping God when he was shepherding his flocks – or providing for the needs of passing strangers in the noontide heat – than when he was on his knees before God's altar.

Of course, every man worships. Some men worship their possessions, their hobbies, their sport, or a cause – or some carved idol. There's not much difference between any of these! The way we live shows what we love and give ourselves to. And if God is at the centre of our lives – as he should be – it will show in our daily lives – but we will also give priority to times that are for him alone. Daily and weekly. To give God pleasure – to thank him for our daily blessings – to give him a token of the fact that we belong to him all the time – like a wedding ring is a token of the giving of the one to the other in marriage. To refresh ourselves spiritually as we come before God to express in praise what lies at the heart of our lives. That is what worship is.

Abram lived in a tent – but he built altars. He lived in a tent because he knew he didn't belong in Canaanite cities. He looked for a city... whose architect and builder is God (Heb 11:9-10) – a city which God has prepared for all who trust him in the same way. A city where we shall be truly free to worship and praise God. It all started when Abram left the city of Ur – but it all ends in the heavenly city. I wonder if we've got the right sort of perspective on our lives? Let's remind ourselves by a brief look at the last book of the Bible:

Then a voice came from the throne saying, "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!" Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting, "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!" (Rev 19:5-7) So Abram worshipped. Wherever he pitched his tent – there he built his altar. Is that our attitude, too? Is the worship of God exciting, joyful, important to us? Is it our first consideration when we arrive at a new place – or stay in our present one? If not, is that because we have not yet begun a friendship with God?

I began by speaking of God's character-reference for Abraham. He knows each one of us, too. Whatever our character in God's sight – and we are all sinners, falling short of God's glory – whatever our neglect of God's love – he has taken the initiative towards us – and he offers to be our friend, if we will respond in trust and obedience to him. Amen.

God, I know that I do not deserve your love and friendship – because of my sin and disobedience. Thank you for sending the Lord Jesus Christ to die for my sins. Thank you for the promise of forgiveness and new life in Christ. I hereby turn and leave behind my disobedience and disbelief. I look to you and trust your promise. Please fill my life with your Holy Spirit, as I step out in trust and obedience. Amen.