The Far Country
In Luke 15 we read of the
young man who left home and went to a far country. While there, he met some “new
friends”. They lived a lavish life style with him until his money was spent. He
made a fool of himself and realized much too late that his new-found friends were
not friends at all but were only interested in a good time at his expense. Look at some others who went to a far
country but made different choices.
Joseph 
free high res pictures
from http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/dore/gustave/bible/complete.html
Genesis 37:21
Joseph was one of many who was forced to leave his home land to go to a far country, yet
this became a blessing. At the time no doubt Joseph could not see how that
obeying God’s law could benefit him or his circumstances. His first test came
while in the home of Potiphar when his wife tried to seduce him and he refused
to sin. [Joseph's crisis was a prelude
to the salvation of the Messianic lineage and the fulfilling of God's promises
to Abraham.]
Three Hebrew men
free high res pictures from THEBIBLEREVIVAL.COM--this is not an endorsement
of the Biblical views of this website
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego we read about in Dan 3:14 who were taken from their
home
Daniel 
free high res pictures
from http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/Pictures
Daniel's plight is mentioned
in Daniel 3:49. He is another Jewish
man taken from his homeland and when placed at the king’s table refused to eat
because it was considered unclean food for Jews. Unlike Adam and Eve who ate
forbidden fruit, Daniel obeyed God. It was proven that food mandated by God was
actually better, so Daniel was allowed to continue eating the food as
prescribed by the Lord. He was given a desirable post by the king but this
wasn’t the end of his testing. Later, the king ordered the people to bow down
before an idle god. Daniel refused and was thrown into the lions den. Of course you know the rest of the story. These
things all happened in a far country.
The common thread
that runs through the
lives of all these men is their faith in God. Even when the chips were down and
they couldn’t see how deliverance could possibly come, their faith remained steadfast. The lesson we
learn from each of these examples is that God can do great things in your life
provided you have a strong faith. These men had great faith and years later we
can learn these lessons. It’s all about choices, isn’t it?
Bill Watkins