Calling

DEVOTION

GENESIS

CALLING

Gen 13:1-4

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. 3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

NIV

It does seem a little odd that Abram was a man whom God considered or counted his faith unto him as righteousness. We just saw how deceptive he was in Egypt concerning his wife. Now he leaves Egypt under pressure from Pharaoh, so we could actually say he was expelled from Egypt. Yet while there he managed to amass a great deal of wealth as did Lot. Now when he gets back to the place he was before, he then calls on the name of the Lord. Was he not calling on the name of the Lord while in Egypt? Was he not calling on the name of the Lord while he was busy becoming wealthy? We know the whole reason he left the place he was supposed to be in the first place was to take care of his own physical needs. Egypt was not where God had called him to go, it was where he is now, back in the land of Canaan. Now he calls on the name of the Lord. What did he say to God? Did he repent of his disobedience, of his mistrust? Or now that he had all he gained from his own efforts, he now wants God to bless him, to bless all that he did? We will never know what exchange occurred between Abram and God at this time, but we can be certain God was faithful to the promise he made to Abram, even if it didn’t seem Abram was holding up his end of the bargain. How could God give all the land of the Canaanites to the descendants of Abram if he goes off the Egypt? But he is back and now he calls on the name of the Lord. Ok God, I am back, so bless me, give me all this land now, seems like he is saying. Is that our life too? God desires us to live in a certain way, in a certain place. Do we, because of difficult times go off on our own, creating our own solution, becoming involved, even preoccupied with the accumulation of wealth, then come back to God and want him to bless us? Do we only call on the name of the Lord when we are in a certain place, either physically or spiritually? Did Abram always think about God? Do we always think about God? Do we get sidetracked by the ways of the world, as it seems Abram did? Do we forget about God when things get difficult? We cannot do that. We believe in God, we believe God. He has always been with us, guiding our footsteps. No matter what our situation in life, God is in the forefront of it. We cannot simply call upon his name every so often as it seems Abram did. Yet even with his faults, God had made a promise to him and God was going to keep it. This too is our life. God has made us a promise and he is faithful to his promise, even if we fail to keep up our end of the bargain. Even when we fail, we falter, we yield to some temptation God is still faithful to his promise. Are those times when we fail him, yielding to temptation, just the same as Abram going off to Egypt? If in the midst of temptation we were to call on the name of the Lord, would we still yield? What if Abram had called on the name of the Lord when the great Famine struck the land he was in? Would God have provided enough for him? We will never know. But we do know that God has never failed to provide for us. He has always made a way for us.  We need not to worry or be anxious for tomorrow.

Phil 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

NIV

It does not matter our situation in life. We can still, as we are admonished to, rejoice in the Lord always. This is always be aware of God in our lives. Always knowing he is there keeping his promise. Although we fail him, he never fails us. This narrative regarding Abram is a reminder to us to call on the name of the Lord continually, not just when we are in the right place physically or spiritually. If Abram had called on the name of the Lord in the midst of the famine, he may not have ever gotten into the trouble in Egypt. Let us continually call on the name of the Lord, keeping close to him at all times in our lives.