Abram was a good man who owned many sheep and cattle. He and his wife Sarai lived in a place called Haran, but they had no children.
One day, God came to Abram and told him to leave his comfortable home and move to the desert in Canaan. God promised that He would bless Abram for doing this. It wasn't an easy decision, but Abram trusted God and did what He asked. He and Sarah and a nephew named Lot packed and made the long journey to Canaan. Abram and Sarai were very old when they made this move, so it was a real act of trust in God. Abram's faith in God made him believe God's promise and God was pleased with Abram. Because of his faith, Abram was blessed by God. Because Abram had no heirs, Sarai told him to have a child with her servant Hagar. Abram did so, and their son was named Ishmael. Many years later, God again appeared to Abram and told him that He was establishing a covenant with him (making a promise to him). God said that Abram's name was changed to Abraham, and Sarai should be known as Sarah. The name "Abram" meant exalted father, but the name "Abraham" meant father of a multitude. God told Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son and his name should be Isaac. The covenant with the Lord would be passed down to Isaac and his descendants. This was hard to believe, because Sarah was long past the time when she could have a child. God reminded Abraham that He made all things possible, including allowing Sarah to have a son! Abraham asked God to bless his son Ishmael, too, and God promised that Ishmael would be the father of leaders as well. Today, Abraham's grandson Jacob is considered the father of the nation of Israel (God changed Jacob's name to Israel) and a patriarch of both the Jewish and Christian faiths. The Muslim faith embraces Ishmael as their patriarch. What God promised Abraham came true: Abraham is important to all three major religions that were born in the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity and Islam! | 
