8-10 "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. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."
Hebrews 11:8-10 (NIV)
As an athlete, you probably love extreme sports and anything that is adventurous or slightly dangerous. Some of my favorite shows are, Running Wild with Bear Grylls, Man vs. Wild, and Survivor. I love reality TV, especially when it involves the test of a person’s survival skills.
Hebrews 11 is known as the Bible’s “Hall of Faith,” and it was written about many of our heroes of the faith who themselves proved to be survivors. One of those heroes is Abraham.
Hebrews 11 recaps how God called Abraham to make a serious move. He was called to leave his home, to go (without having a specific destination), to live like a stranger in a strange land, to live in tents and to look for a city built by God, not man.
This was not a fixer-upper, and Abraham wasn’t moving to a bigger, more luxurious home. No, this was a move that would test even the best survivalist. I can almost hear the household buzz, “We are going where? We are living in what?”
As I was meditating on these verses in Hebrews and reading about Abraham’s adventure, I was convicted that this radical camping adventure wasn’t just meant for Abraham; it’s meant to be a model for all Christians – for me!
The spiritual principle that God was teaching Abraham is that this earth was never meant to be his forever home. And He called not only Abraham, but all of us, to look toward our real forever home – heaven – a city which is being built by God.
Therefore, we are to hold loosely every temporal or material thing. We are to travel light through this life, hence the tent theme. We should be willing and equipped to spiritually and physically move wherever and whenever God calls.
This is better than reality TV! God invites us to participate in this exciting and challenging faith journey of survival, or as I’ve titled it, “The Great Camping Expedition.”
Athlete, the good news is you get to be challenged, stretched, pushed and tested by some extreme elements that this world will throw at you. In other words, your faith will be tested often.
So what are the keys to basic survival?
Expert survival training is based on a scientific principle called “The Rule of Threes.” The principle states that a human can only survive three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food.
The next four devotionals will show us how to use The Rule of Threes to not just survive but thrive during our wilderness adventure.
A prayer to consider: Lord, help me to have faith like Abraham! Help me to learn the skills I need to be an expert camper!
