Always Calling

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

ALWAYS 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

Once again, Abram called on the name of the LORD. We wonder what kind of day-to-day living Abram lived. He was at this same place where he had built an altar and called on the name of the LORD before the famine when he decided to go into Egypt and where he made the horrible decision of telling his wife to say she was his sister. However, the result was he became a very wealthy man, as well as did Lot. Nevertheless, did he not ever call upon the name of the LORD while he was in Egypt? Did he only call upon the name of the LORD when he pitched his tent in some special place, or where he could build an altar? What if our lives were like that? What if we only called upon the name of the LORD when we moved to some place or built a new church, or just waited until Sunday when we were in Church? What if we lived Monday through Saturday never calling on the name of the LORD, and just doing our own thing, looking to gain whatever in life, and then on Sunday, we go to Church and sort of just go through the motions of worship, but never really call upon the name of the LORD. What kind of life would that be? No, this is not our lives. We spend every day in the presence of our Lord. In fact, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and we cannot go forward throughout each day without calling on the name of the LORD. There is always the sense of his presence and even when we are involved in some activity, work, or play, we know God is with us, and our mind and our spirit get these thoughts of worship. Can we get caught up in something, so intensely consumed with doing a particular activity that we forget about who we are, and our relationship with our LORD? Maybe, that might happen from time to time, but that would just be for a moment, then the Spirit reminds us, and we come back to our senses, and call upon the name of our LORD. Maybe that was what Abram was like. Perhaps we should not be so judgmental, after all, he was enshrined in the hall of faith, being remembered as one “By faith”. Still, we must remember we cannot wait for some moment to call on the name of our LORD but live in the Spirit, walk in step with the Spirit, be in the presence of our Lord, listen and discuss our daily walk, being guided by the path he has laid out for us, and seeing those footsteps he has ordered for us. Can we get distracted by our own will? Sure, that might happen, but it may be for a moment, then we remember, we are his and he is our LORD. Let us always be calling upon the name of our LORD, for He is always calling us.