I have been parked in Genesis 12 for a few hours and have come to a conclusion. God told Abram to leave his family, his land, everything that he knew and was comfortable with and would show him where to go. I don't care how you slice this.........realistically or metaphorically, that is a pretty scary word to receive from God. Leave everything. All your bud's and bud-ette's...all your hang outs and go. "Go where? For how long? Why? What will I find there?" That would be my way of handling it. I guess God knew best when he called Abram. The funny part is that God was serious. Why is it I do not really believe God requires the same of me? Is it because I'm not Chaldean or Hebrew? Is it because I'm not Jewish? Have I built a belief system concerning God that says, "Those things happened in the Old Testament. God doesn't do that today."
I don't think God has changed.
I don't think God's ways have changed.
Maybe we aren't listening as much as we should be.
Oh, I don't mean that God is going to uproot all of Christianity and send them on journey's all over the globe (although He does have the discretion to do so). What I do believe is at the heart of these verse in Genesis 12 is that there is a separation that is to take place between our old life and lifestyle and the new life and lifestyle God expects from us.
There is a separation that takes place through our salvation of being set aside holy unto God.
I Peter 2:9-10 reads:
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, now you are the people of God. Once you received none of God's mercy, not you have received his mercy.
I do know this.
God gave Abram instructions.
God said that if Abram followed them and obeyed God, then there would be some pretty neat promises poured out upon Abram. What's the point? The point is that when we obey God, doing what he tells us to, then we are under the grace of God and the blessing will follow our obedience. As a wise man once told me, "Salvation is free.........blessing are dependent upon our obedience." Made sense to me.
Is God calling us to a new land. A new place in which to be fruitful and settle down? No. But I do believe He is calling us to a new "life".
A place where we can grow and mature in our faith.
A place where the quality of our prayers changes and we see God act in ways we have never seen before.
That is my word for today.....
Grow up in God! All of us.
It's time we move out of God's nursery where we have remained babes in Christ, to take our rightful place as priests in serving God.
God on you........
mb
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