No turning back!

“All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back.”

Hebrews 11:13-15 NLT

Today I headed out to a rather unique location for some personal retreat time – a local memorial cemetery! I have cultivated this practice in the past, when living in Perth and Sydney. I’ve found such times to be sobering and helpful, enabling me to take stock of my life and my faith; to gain perspective about what really matters; to be reminded of my own mortality, and to seek God for fresh or timely insights…

Today at the cemetery I was reminded of something that has become a very common theme for me over recent months – the Christian journey of faith and obedience.

I was drawn to consider the life of Abraham and what is written about him in the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews 11:8 says; “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.”

I’m amazed how Abraham and guys like him seemed fully content to trust God, with literally no earthly place to call home - they could somehow through eyes of faith see beyond the physical realm, glimpsing a better country on the horizon.

Hebrews 11:15 says that if such people had been mindful of their earthly country (ie Ur of the Chaldeans for Abraham), then they might have easily returned.

This begs the question for me; Could Abraham and his family have gone back to the country where they came from? Well, I suppose they could have - but they chose not to.

God had called Abraham and Co to leave what was familiar to them - to pay the price - to move on. I think it’s reasonable to suggest that to return would have been to refuse to do what God wanted (and therefore miss out on the future blessings God had in store for them?).

Surely Abraham’s family would have thought about all they had left behind? They may well have thought about it and they may well have brought a collection of memories with them, but Scripture testifies that they didn’t long to return – it seems that Abraham was somehow able to discipline his mind not to dwell on such thoughts and such geography. He was able to look ahead, leading his family to a new country through trust and obedience – no turning back.

Scripture and experience tells me that there will be times for us as God’s people today when the Lord will capture our attention, we will hear His voice and we will wrestle with His call to move on. And then, if we are serious about obedience this will lead us to enter into a process of re-alignment, which could well result in a geographical relocation (as it has on several occasions for Judy and I and our family), or it might require a relocation of priorities or roles or something similar.

I think that one of the challenges for us when faced with such choices will be to have enough faith and Spirit-led resolve not to long for whatever God may be calling us to leave behind.

I'm thankful that my time at the cemetery today has provided me with a useful reminder that a far better country waits for me beyond my earthly country, beyond the grave.




“I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country…I must make the main objective of my life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.” C.S. Lewis