Arriving there

DEVOTION

GENESIS

ARRIVING THERE

Gen 12:1-5

12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

NIV

Abram is in Haran when he hears from God. We are not told anything about how his father Terah lived concerning God or if Abram had been raised with the knowledge of God and all the history of the Flood. Of course we know that Noah and Shem were still alive when he was born, but we do not know if they ever had any contact. We do not know where Noah or Shem actually lived and if Ur where Tereh lived was close enough to them to have any contact. Yet because Tereh was taking Abram, Sarai and Lot from Ur to Canaan and made a stop in Haran where he decided to settle and then died, we find Abram hearing from God in Haran. From what God says here we would also think that more than just those three were with Tereh. God tells Abram to leave his country, his people and his father’s household. That is like everything, strike out on your own, become the head of your own household now. Today we do not think much about leaving our family, get married and striking out on our own, but in that day it was really a big deal. Families, or clans stayed together, sons living under the leadership of their father, bringing wives into the clan, having sons and daughters who lived under rule and protection of the family patriarch. On his deathbed he would bless each of his sons, and usually the eldest would then assume the rule of leader of the clan, family, which would have included any hired hands, or bond servants. So for Abram to leave his clan, family and head out to someplace unknown was really big. Yet we also see here that God assured him that he would watch over him, bless him and anyone who blesses him and curse anyone who curses him. If God told us that why wouldn’t we follow him? Wait, he has told us that.

Deut 31:8

8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

NIV

Ps 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

NIV

There are hundreds of scriptures which show us that God is with us, that he has our path defined for us, and has called us to follow where he leads us. Abram did not have all the scripture, in fact none of it. What he had was either the voice of God, or a divine visit from him or a representative of him speaking directly to him and informing him exactly what he was to do. Today we have the same situation because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to not only be with us, but to be in us. He is our divine guide in our life.

John 16:12-15

 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

NIV

Along with many other words about the Spirit in the New Testament we are assured in the same way Abram was assured. Of course Abram was a little different then we are. God has selected him to bless the whole world. He was to become the father of many nations, and through his line, David would enter the world, but more importantly Jesus would enter the world. God was going to give Abram a world renowned name and a promised land to live in. So he picked up and left his father’s clan. Yes, he took all his assets with him. All his possessions and people he had gained while in Haran. So it was a tribe of people, a clan onto itself that set out from Haran onto a new land. Abram had herds of cattle and sheep. He had tents and supplies and set out to live a new life as God directed him to. This is our lesson, of course. We too must be ready to set out on a new life when God calls us. First of all he already has called us out from a city of darkness into a city of light.

1 Peter 2:9-10

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

NIV

We left our father’s household, that place in the darkness, and we set out on a new path as directed by God and he has promised us he would lead us to a promised land, eternal life in the new city of Jerusalem. It is not just us who he has called and promised to, but he has called everyone and promised the same thing, but in order to have that promise we must leave our father’s household and set out on a new path. This happens when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are now on that right path to the place he will show us. Abram did not know where this land was that he was to travel to. He did not know what to expect when he arrived, but what he knew was that God was going to reveal it to him. There are times in our lives when we are not sure what the future holds for us, but as long as we are traveling along the path set out for us by God we will be alright. Traveling this path we will not only be alright, but we will be a light unto the world.

Matt 5:14-16

14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

NIV

So let us continue to walk in his light so that we can be a light for others to see the true light of God. In this way we will be a blessing to others, as God told Abram he would be a blessing to the whole world. This blessing is of course Jesus. This is the same kind of blessing we can be to others who see Jesus because of the light we shine into the spiritual darkness of their lives. Noah walked with God, Abram did as God directed him to and we see he arrived there. Let us walk with God, follow his directions and we too will arrive there.