“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.” Genesis 12:4 NIV
What is the land then? It is simply life in Christ. It is what the New Testament calls the fullness of the Spirit. It is life controlled by the Holy Spirit, reflecting the glory of Christ. We enter it by conversion, but we do not experience the fullness of its blessing until we learn, like Abram, to adjust ourselves to its peculiar demands. But it is the land of promise, the land of fulfilment, the land of the Lord’s blessing and power. This is where the Lord called Abram to go. We are told that Abram obeyed God and started out for the land, but he stopped along the way. The record of those wasted years at Harran is found in Genesis 11:31-32: Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Harran, they settled there. As far as we know, Terah never heard the call that Abram heard. He left simply to get away from Ur. Terah went out, but only as far as the land of Harran, half-way to Canaan. Terah symbolizes those who attempt to gain the promise of the gospel by leaving Ur – the world and its ways- but never enter Canaan. The word Harran means “parched,” and it is indeed a parched and barren place to live. Many have left the world and its ways, joined a church, go through the outward motions of faith. But never go farther than Harran. What a parched experience that is!
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord Jesus, may we never get stuck half-way in following You.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, as we hear Your call to leave, like Abraham, help us not to get stuck half-way, in our journey of following Your Call. AMEN
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)
Isaiah 1:10-20
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