"No, Not So Much As To Set His Foot On ..."

We live in such a marvelous age. If you would like to view an automobile that you are considering buying, it is possible that you can go to a web site and see exactly what it looks like. When we purchased our van a couple of years ago, that is exactly what I did. If you want to go on a vacation, you can go to a web site and view the outside and inside of the vacation lodgings. Do the rooms look nice? Is a "free" breakfast provided? Is it difficult to find? All this information is yours at the click of a button. 

If you are considering moving to a new town, or just wanting to purchase a newer home where you live, there is a site you can go to and view what the homes look like and get whatever information you desire about that home and the city where it is located. Yes, we have so much information available to us. We can get information on almost ANYTHING, and we can
see a description or picture of that which interests us.

Now, consider the case of Abraham. God made a promise to this patriarch:I will give you a land which is not yours. God promised to give Abraham the land of Canaan as an inheritance. Stephen mentions this account in the book of Acts, "And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." (Acts 7:5) Did you notice that? Do you see the contrast of what it was like during the time of Abraham and our time today? God told Abraham about this land of promise, yet Abraham was not allowed to see it, nor to set foot in it. God promised that it would be for Abraham and for his descendants, at a time when Abraham had NO offspring!

The promises of God as sure and stedfast. When God gives His word, we can know that it will happen, as God never lies (Titus 1:2). Yet, why do people have so much difficulty today believing God with all the wonderful evidence we have? We should be shamed by the fact that this great patriarch could sacrifice his home, follow the will of God into a foreign land, place the life of his wife and his own life in jeopardy, all the while never having seen the place which God has promised him! What a great amount of faith Abraham had! No wonder he was called "The Friend of God".

No, Abraham could not go on www.canaan.com and look at the promised land. He could not go to a web site called www.futurechildren.com and see what Isaac would look like. All he had was a love for God and the belief that when God says something, it is so. That friends, is all we need too! [JW]