Are You Willing to Risk Your Retirement To Follow Him? test

Welcome to The Bible Money Journal, a brief for Christian professionals who want to learn more about God’s ways of managing money. In each edition, I share a verse, a story, and a money lesson to help you in your journey.

This brief is a resource for navigating the scriptures through the lens of financial planning and learning how to apply them in your life.

Let’s get started!

Genesis 12:1-5
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan.

God had a retirement plan for Abram

Have you ever moved to another city? How about a different country? Although most of us are descendants of immigrants, some of us have a closer connection being first, second, or third generation. When you see your family's sacrifices, it gives a different meaning to Abram and Sarai’s story.

At an age when most people are looking to spend their golden years enjoying the fruit of their labor, God asked this man to move. This 75-year-old man did it. We don’t know how long it took him to decide or whether he was unsure or nervous, but we know that he followed God’s calling and brought everything he had with him.

Abram is the archetype of old-world success

Why does the author of Genesis think it essential to point out that Abram had the wealth to bring in the first place? I think it’s because it makes the story more real. In the ancient world, your wealth was primarily stored in physical mediums of exchange — like land, livestock, silver, and gold bars — that were hard to move around. Through this small window, we are led to infer that Abram was successful in his commercial endeavors. Further, it makes us believe that his father was likely also successful, given the generational nature of wealth at the time.

So why does a successful, older man, likely a scion of a powerful family with position, prestige, and lots of money, decide to uproot his life and leave by foot for a land thousands of miles away that he has never seen before??

In a word — faith.

Are you willing to leave everything behind if God calls you to do so?

Abram believed this calling was more significant than himself, his family, his possessions, and his country. Instead, he was focused on the legacy God promised him: a great nation and blessing all families on earth.

As we will learn in future newsletters, his faith and willingness to follow God’s commands, even when not perfectly done, led to even more material and spiritual blessings.

God has given you great talents and financial potential. Would you be willing to…

Leo Marte is a Christian financial advisor and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™. Abundant Advisors provides financial advice for Christians with convenient virtual meetings. Let’s talk if you are ready to make the next move.