When Christopher Columbus first sailed west, his crew was very uneasy about sailing into the unknown. To disguise the true length of the journey, Columbus kept two sets of logsone with the true distance for himself, and one with shorter distances for the crew, so that they would think that they were not as far from home. Ironically, the false logs turned out to be more accurate than the one that he considered the true log.

Getting far from home, and going into the unknown can be exciting, but also very scary. I wonder what it was like for the crew that set forth with Abram when he left Ur of the Chaldees to go out into the unknown? What kind of “sales job” did he have to make to Sarai, Lot, and all of the others who went with him? When Columbus set out for the new world, he thought that he was going somewhere, but he didn’t really know. When Abraham set out, he knew he was going somewhere, but he really had no idea where it would be. Hebrews 11 tells us, “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 whither he went” (verse 8).

How could he make that journey, and not know where he was going? How could he risk his family this way? “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise” (verse 9). The key to how and why he did this is found in the next verse. “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Abraham is often thought as the great father of the faithful. He earned this reputation by trusting God, and obeying Him, even when it meant going out into the unknown.

Each of us is daily making a journey into the unknown. It is sometimes hard to know what tomorrow will be like. We have our ideas of what we expect, but we don't really know. And the tomorrow of eternity is just a step away for all of us. The key for us, as it was for Abraham, is that we should be looking for that heavenly city “whose builder and maker is God.” Perhaps the best advice for all of us, as we go forward, is to simply “look up.” Remember what the Father has planned for us.

Where Are We Going?

by Bob Prichard

www.oxfordchurchofchrist.com