Genesis 12:1-9

Prior to this moment, Abram was merely a name on a list

Now he becomes a person; he’s given an identity
- he emerges from the genealogy into space and time
• he has a history and he is given a destiny
where he is from and where he is going is what has defined him
◦ where he is from: “your birthplace and your father’s house”
◦ where he is going: “to the land that I will show you”
• God is in the process of redefining Abram’s life
◦ he will no longer be the person shaped by family history
◦ he will become a person living in a covenant with God
- normal course of a person’s life: grow up in family system
• each person has there place and is assigned a role
◦ this does not happen consciously,
◦ it works itself out in interplay of each personality
• psychology would encourage us to ask two questions:
◦ how did I get were I am?
◦ where do I go from here?
 and this may require that we escape from our family system
 or the neighborhood where we grew up