Halfway to Canaan

I had a startling revelation this morning and I'm still pondering its meaning. I'm a little behind on reading for my Bible study and decided to catch up today. I was making good progress until I came to a verse that stopped me in my tracks.

"... they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan..."

No. That is not a reference to Abraham's journey. It's a reference to his father, Terah. I've read this many times, but never caught it until today. Terah, along with Abraham, Sarai, and Lot, left Ur of the Chaldeans. They were headed toward Canaan.

Abraham's journey began with the journey of his father.

Terah, however, stopped short of his destination. 

They traveled about 600 miles, reached Haran, and settled there. A little over halfway, they stopped. They settled. They lived and died.

There was nothing wrong with Haram. Abraham prospered there and was soon a wealthy man. Life was good, but they weren't in Canaan. I don't know if Abraham would have left on his own, but the call of God came to him with clarity.

"Go forth." 

God spoke with more than direction. He spoke with promise. 

"I will make you a great nation.  I will bless you. I will make your name great. I will make you a blessing." If Abraham made the journey, God would do more than he could have ever hoped.

Terah settled at a good place when he was 400 miles from the promised place.

I've stopped in my own Haram before. Halfway between where I was and where God wanted me to go. It was a good place, but it wasn't the promised place. It was the place of prosperity but not peace.

Perhaps you've experienced something similar. It's easy to do. We begin a life of faith and settle for a life of religion. We begin a life of daring and settle for a life of mundane routine. We begin a life of obedience and settle for a life of habit.

God is calling and a choice is required.

Will we stay in our Haram, our place of comfort and safety? Will we step out in faith and proceed onward to our place of promise?

Terah chose to cut short his journey and have comfort and safety. He eventually died in that place.

Abraham chose the longer journey of obedience. It was dangerous and uncertain. He eventually changed the world because he went.

The same choice lies before us. Daring obedience or routine religion. 

Which will we choose? 

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links: Out with the Old, Freedom and Grace, Walking with God or Hiding with the World,  The Same Jesus, and The God Who Never Fails.

#obedience #thejourneybeginswithonestep #disciple #Abraham #Terah #Christian

A New Legacy

What does it mean to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?  I have read over those words many times with far too much familiarity when, in fact, they carry much weight.

There is little written about the generations before Abraham.  We never read that God was the God of Terah (Abraham’s father), do we?  But something changed with Abraham.  History did not repeat itself.

Abraham was God’s friend (James 2:23).  The legacy of Abraham’s family completely changed because of his love and obedience to God, in spite of his mistakes.  Never would this family be the same.  Future generations would point back to the devotion of those who had gone before as an encouragement to their own faith.  Abraham’s faith caused a change in destiny.  In the process, Abraham got a new name - a new identity, and he discovered the identity of God – multi-faceted and redeeming.  

Yes, Abraham’s destiny changed in much this way…

He received a crown of beauty where there once had been ashes, the oil of gladness where there had been mourning, a garment of praise replaced a spirit of despair.  And future generations would be oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.  God would rebuild the ruined places of their lives and restore them.  He would trade shame and disgrace for an everlasting joy.  And all who saw them would recognize that they were blessed by God.  (Isaiah 61:3-9)

God took a pagan family from a pagan land and drew from it a man whom He blessed and called His friend.  And God is doing the same even now.  How much I want my children and grandchildren to say that the I AM was the God of Rebecca. May they say that nothing else took His rightful place in my heart and that I did not live under the shadow of the past.  By God’s grace and His empowering, He makes a new legacy possible for each of us, as He did for Abraham.