December 31

December 31

TREKKING WITH ABRAHAM

“Was not our father Abraham considered righteous … ?”

Luke 3:8 and Matthew 3:9

Trek Complete

366 days thinking and meditating about Abraham, and attempting to know what he was thinking and feeling is ending with me declaring, “I like this man Abraham.” Biblical figure or not, 4,000 years ago or not, I now feel that he is a friend and mentor of mine. I feel I am a friend of his.

True friendship is an ever deepening recognition of another’s character and personality with loving acceptance.   Friends often share likes and dislikes, interests, pursuits, and passion. Just as I feel a kinship and familiarity with this biblical giant, the same text that has brought me to a certain understanding of Abraham, has also brought me to an understanding of Abraham’s friendship with God Himself. Friendship, in general can be defined and delineated by certain aspects of conduct and inner response. When we consider such a relationship in human terms we are forced to use terms such as  a mutual desire for companionship, common bonds of some kind, a shared sense of caring and concern, a desire to see one another grow and develop, and a hope for each other to succeed in all aspects of life. True friendship involves action: doing something for someone else while expecting nothing in return; sharing thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment or negative criticism. When two people, or even groups of people, respond to each other with these things oiling the dynamics of their relationship, we call it friendship.

 

True friendship must involve ongoing and ever growing relationship. Those mutual attributes we mentioned above become the foundation in which recognition of a status of friendship transpires into ongoing relationship. Without the desire to be “ongoing”, the definition is completely transgressed and “friendship” is denied.  Many people say, “Oh, he’s a good friend of mine,” yet they never take time to spend time with that “good friend.” Friendship takes time: time to get to know each other, time to build shared memories, time to invest in each other’s growth. But having been established, friendship – to be true friendship – needs to press on.

 

Trust is an absolutely essential aspect of true friendship. We all need someone with whom we can share our lives, thoughts, feelings, and frustrations. We need to be able to share our deepest secrets with someone, without worrying that those secrets will end up on the Internet the next day! Failing to be trustworthy with those intimate secrets can destroy a friendship in a hurry. It can destroy a life as well. Faithfulness and loyalty are key to true friendship. Without them, we often feel betrayed, left out, and lonely. In true friendship, there is no back-biting, no negative thoughts, no turning away. 

 

True friendship involves certain accountability factors. Real friends encourage one another and forgive one another where there has been an offence. Genuine friendship supports during times of struggle. Friends are dependable. In true friendship, unconditional love starts to seep through the normal dynamics of life. Once a friendship has anything “unconditional” fastening it together, it has entered into something heavenly, no matter how earthy and mundane that friendship might be. We love our friends no matter what and we always want the best for our friends. If that isn’t true, then the people concerned are not friends.

 

In Abraham’s biography as presented in scripture, we read constantly about God sharing His intentions with Abraham. Abraham repeatedly responds by telling God his thoughts and feelings about the situation that the Almighty and all knowing has opened up and shared with him. God and Abraham are able to do this because they trust and respect each other. This is the concept shared by Christ Himself when He said that the hairs of our head are numbered by His Father in heaven, and that just as sparrows do not fall to the ground without Him knowing – then we should consider of how much more value we are to God more than the sparrows. 

 

God was Abraham’s friend. To be a friend God had to relate personally to Abraham. God was personal with Abraham, and therefore is eternally a personal Being. The entire 366 days of this trek has revealed something marvellous to this writer. It is not that God tries to model His approach to us on the model of the dynamics of the way human beings relate to each other. It is actually the other way round. Father, Son and Holy Spirit have a dynamic relationship  between each other, and Adam and Eve were created in the image of God with the potential of this dynamic working within their life and existence too. God didn’t copy us, it is us that are supposed to copy Him. To look outward and to relate to those around us is a characteristic of God and should be sought after as a normal lifestyle. 

 

Being friendly, having friends, and owning friendships is a Divinely ordained manner of existence and ongoing conduct of life. The true commitment of friendship is displayed in the Bible as a God birthed thing. David and Jonathan’s friendship is related with language that the western twenty-first century person finds hard to grasp. They loved each other as they loved their own souls. When Jonathan was killed, David sang a song that  stated that the love of Jonathan “excelled the love of women.” No! It does not mean in the slightest that David and Jonathan were homosexual. It is language of a true, sincere and unconditional friendship whether or not it crosses the genders.

 

Real and true friendship involves freedom of choice, accountability, truth, openness and forgiveness. Real friendship looks at the heart, not just the “packaging.” Genuine friendship loves for love’s sake, not just for what it can get in return. True friendship is both challenging and exciting. It risks, it overlooks faults, and it loves unconditionally, but it also involves being truthful, even though it may hurt. Relationships in real life involve different levels of friendships, and that’s okay. But humans are designed by God for lasting relationships.

All this relates to what we have seen and heard in Abraham, and what we have discovered that worked both ways between Everlasting Jehovah and Abraham. If somebody wants friends, they must show themselves friendly. That is what Proverbs 18:24 tells us. Always remember that it was God Himself who initiated the relationship between Himself and Abram in Ur of the Chaldees. It is God who approached with the “chat up line” for friendship. 

If my readers have not yet heard His voice, let me assure you that God is talking to you now as you read.

My one major bullet point that I have learned in these 366 steps of following Abraham, is that I have what Abraham had. I am not only hanging on to Abraham’s shirt tails with both hands, I am similarly and allegorically stood on his shoulders, as well as being carried on his tummy like some mothers carry their babies. I thoroughly enjoyed and learnt a lot from trekking with Abraham.

 

WHAT’S THE POINT? I think I shall have to start again with my trek with this man.