Lenten Devotion: From Abram's Call to the Cross: Promises, Faith, and Eternal Joy

Published February 28, 2026

Scriptures: Genesis 12:1-9; Psalm 33:12-21; Romans 4:1-17; John 3:1-16

In the Genesis passage, we see the call of Abram (later called Abraham): “Go…. I will show you…. I will bless you…. [I will] make your name great….” All families of the world would be blessed through Abram’s seed. Stephen, in his speech in Acts 7:2-3, says, “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’” Abram obeyed God and went.

Genesis 12:7-8 says: “Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.”

We see threefold promises in Genesis:

  1. Blessing — Genesis 12:2: “…I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” In Genesis 22:16-18, after the testing of Abraham on Mount Moriah, an angel of the LORD called to Abraham and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
  2. Seed — Genesis 15:5: “And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” And in Genesis 17:4: “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.” The blessing was expanded and affirmed, where Abram’s descendants would be as numerous as the stars. The sign of the covenant was a name change from Abram to Abraham and circumcision.
  3. Land — Genesis 15:18: “On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.’”

In Galatians 3:16 it says, “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ.” The physical descendants of Abraham carried the Messiah’s lineage. Jesus brings salvation to the nations.

The Psalm reading echoes this blessing as well. Verse 12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!” The LORD sees all humankind, all nations. He sees individuals as well. He sees the motives and the intent of our hearts. Verses 18-19 say, “Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.” God’s eye is on those who fear him. Take account of where you are spiritually this 2026 Lenten season. Do you fear God? What does that look like practically? The fear of God encompasses an attitude of reverence, awe, and respect. Our inward attitude should be one of humility and deep devotion toward him who has saved us from the miry pit of our sin. It means we should want to please him. We should want to align our will with his will. We see in the story of Abraham, in his spiritual journey, that he believed in the promises of God and was faithful, and it was credited to him as righteousness. In verse 21 it says our heart is glad because we trust in him. What is your trust level this season toward Almighty God? Are you rejoicing in what he has done and will do in your life?

So how are we to be blessed? Are we to expect material blessings? Abraham’s faith led to his justification, so our faith in Jesus will also bring us blessings. We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ. We are being sanctified in our spiritual journey. In the familiar passage of John 3:1-16, we see Jesus having a conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus. The second birth is from above. We become children of God. The Spirit changes us. When you came to faith, was it presented in such a way that it would cost you something? What did it cost you? In John 3:9, what Nicodemus says is really offensive. In that culture, you did not question a Rabbi. In verse 12, we see that Nicodemus is blind and not able to receive the truth about the Word of life. Do we not act the same way at times and say, “DON’T CHANGE ME, LORD!!!”? Are you a disciple or are you a Pharisee? A disciple meditates upon the Word, hears the command, and does what is commanded. Nicodemus was complacent. Are you complacent in your walk? Nicodemus would not show himself talking to Jesus in public in daylight, so he came in darkness and in secret. Jesus hung and died on a cross for us. It was public. He LOVED us. AGAPE is the word here, and it is the first time it is mentioned in the Gospel of John.

In John 3:13-14, Jesus references the manner in which he will die. He references Numbers 21:4-9, in which the nation of Israel spoke against God and against Moses. They said, “‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.’ Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed and the LORD instructed Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, will live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole, and all who looked on it lived.

Jesus was lifted up upon the cross. Jesus was made sin for us. He took my place on the cross, and he took your place also. God loves us so very much. His love is beyond human comprehension. Look to Jesus and live. I am a sinner and I deserve to die. But over forty-five years ago, the Lord in his mercy opened my blind eyes and filled the deep longing in my heart. (C.S. Lewis calls this *Sehnsucht*—a German word describing a deep and intense kind of longing, particularly for something more and beyond. Later, Lewis calls it “Joy,” which he defines as “an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction.”) Jesus filled my void and my deep longing, and in that void and deep place of longing came Joy. Is there Joy in your life?

When we meditate on the Cross, it seems almost incomprehensible. Imagine the Creator of the Universe emptying himself and becoming a bondservant, being made in the likeness of man. Jesus gave and gave and gave of himself to all humankind. The enormity of his love knows no boundaries. Nothing can hinder this amazing love. All we need to do is turn away from our sin, look to Jesus, repent, and be clean.

How can we say thanks for his many blessings—for giving us Jesus (the Promised One), for giving us hope for our eternal home? How can we give thanks? We can do what he has commanded us to do: to love others as Jesus does; to proclaim the Good News to those who are weak, tired, blind, and broken. We can bless others by a word, a touch, a note, a prayer. We can tell others the story of Abraham and of his seed that would change lives. We can tell others of the land to come, our eternal home where there are no tears, no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain—for eternity. We can rejoice in these promises.

Below is an excerpt from Celtic Devotions by Calvin Miller:

Our Father,  

Encompass me with joy, for weeping gathers all its gloom against me.  
Encompass me with love, for the world’s a hating place at times.  
Encompass me with summer, for there is too much ice in secularity.  
Encompass me with good news, for the days overwhelm the soul with negativity.  
Encompass me with foreverness, for I am too temporary to have any kind of future without you.  

Amen