"8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city."
Hebrews 11:8-16
The Apostle next turns to the wonderful story of Abraham for illustration of the principle of faith, and it is natural that, with such a magnificent example before him he should devote a considerable part of the chapter to it. There is so much to learn from the patriarch's life. For one thing, we notice that for him faith was obedience. It was no formal, intellectual matter, no acceptance merely of a series of doctrines, but something that involved his whole being. He stepped out on God. There is a sublime simplicity about it all: God spoke to him, and he obeyed the voice of God. What this obedience cost him we can gather even from these verses, and certainly more fully from the record in Genesis - it meant the severing of every natural tie and the surrender of every natural love in his life in order that God might be all in all to him. But the cost of this discipleship must be seen in its proper setting. God is no man's debtor and when He calls to such a life He sees to it that there are immeasurable compensations. "I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward", He assured Abraham, and called him into a blessed friendship with Himself beyond all telling, in which he found a fulfilment infinitely more rich and satisfying than anything he could possibly have known otherwise, and in which he achieved his true purpose and destiny in life in the mind and intention of God. And that is life worthy of the name!