Genesis 12-14
The book of beginnings (Genesis) will now take a center stage focus on one man and his family-Abraham. Before he received the promise from God, his name was Abram. God told Abram to leave his hometown and go to a place which He will be told of later. Okay, so what if God told you to make a drastic change in your life without clear direction? Would your faith be strong enough to follow? The distance that Abram and his family traveled from his hometown in Ur to the land that God had promised him (Canaan) was nearly 1000 miles. They would have traveled on foot or camel. It would have been a long journey. As they traveled, Abram too regular opportunity to stop, build an alter, and worship God.
Abram's fear of the Egyptian Pharaoh caused him to lie. How many times have we been caught in this position? This lie was a half-truth. In Genesis 20:12 we will discover that Sarai was Abram's half-sister (same father but different mothers). Nonetheless, she was still his wife. Due to Pharaoh's unknowingly wrongdoing, God sent a severe illness upon Pharaoh and his whole house-hold. When he discovered the truth, Pharaoh let the leave-he just sent them out as soon as he could.
Abram and his nephew Lot were incredibly wealthy with silver, gold, and cattle. So much cattle, that the land would not support their great number. So Abram offered to Lot to choose which land he would choose. Wouldn't it have been obvious which land he would have chosen? Was Abram testing Lot and his level of respect he had for his uncle's family? Or was Abram truly trusting for God to provide? Whatever the case, God continued his promise to Abram that everywhere the eye can see will one day by the home to Abram's descendants. Again, Abram built an alter to worship God.
Then war broke out in the land where Lot had chosen to live and Lot had been captured along with all of his wealth. Abram heard the news and collected all of the men born into his household (all of the male servants and herdsmen) and put together an army of 318 men. Se set out and successfully rescued Lot and all of his possessions.
It is interesting how so many of the Psalms that King David wrote make reference to his enemies. I am sure that a nation's king would have many enemies. Especially those who seek to overthrow his kingdom. It is also interesting that amidst so many enemies, David continues his steadfast devotion and trust in God. How can we learn from that? Psalm 5:2 reads loud for me: "Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I will never pray to anyone but you." I take this verse but literally and figuratively. Literally I will pray to no other god. Figuratively, I will offer my devotion solely to God. Such a deep devotion is required to make that statement. How many times have I "prayed" to the god of money? How many times have I given time to the god of worry? So many "gods" in our modern world can steal our devotion from our Almighty God! What can we do this year to prevent this from happening? Perhaps our commitment to reading God's word this year is a start!
Psalm 5:3 speaks of an early morning appointment with God. Today I am reading God's word at night because of an abnormally busy day. However, there is such value in reading and praying early in the morning. Your days worries have not yet found you. Your mind is fresh from a night's rest. The rest of the world is still in slumber and you can completely focus all of your attention on God. I highly encourage a morning devotion time. I myself will attempt to recommit to that as well.
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