Call Then Listen

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

CALL THEN LISTEN

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

We wonder why we are told of how much wealth Abram had accumulated, although we are not told how. Was all that just given to him by the Egyptians, or did he trade goods or something to buy all he had? If so, where did he get everything to start with? Was part of his wealth an inheritance from his father? We will never know for certain how he became so wealthy. However, the greater question is about Abram calling on the name of the LORD. Did Abram not call on the name of the LORD when he was in Egypt? Shouldn't he have been walking with the LORD from the time he was called to leave his home and his father's household in Haran? We know the last time he had pitched his tent in the place between Bethel and Ai, he had built an altar and called on the name of the LORD. But now he is back at the same place, and we are told he called on the name of the LORD. Didn't Abram ever talk to the LORD other than at this place? Didn't He give thanks for all he had accumulated? Was Abram just a successful businessman, doing his thing, getting wealthy, and then every once in a while he goes to church, the altar he built, and prays or calls on the name of the LORD? That just does not seem right, since he already had a promise from the LORD about his descendants having the land of Canaan. He had to live in constant awareness of the LORD. Yet, he was not a perfect man, as he lied when he went into Egypt. But we use Abram as an example of a man of faith. We do not wait until we are at the altar we built, the church, to call on the name of the Lord. We live each day in his presence, aware of his moving in our lives. We know the Spirit dwells within us, and we walk and talk with the Lord every day. Is there a difference in how we normally pray, always asking for some need in our lives and in the lives of those we care about, and just calling on the name of the Lord? We don't know the words Abram used, but we know we don't have to use any special words either, words that sound religious or spiritual just because we are talking with the Lord. He knows our hearts, our pains and joys, our needs and concerns. Maybe all that is needed is for us to call on the name of the Lord. Oh Lord, I am here; I call on your name; I seek more of you in my life. Maybe that is all we need to do: just call on his name. If we call, he will answer; then we are supposed to listen.