QT 12/31/2021 , Gen 11:31-12:1, What is our calling?

 

UPDATE: This quiet time is an update of 27 Dec 2007.

 

Genesis 11:31–12:1 (ESV) —

31 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 Haran, they settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

 

NOTE:  This is an especially puzzling set of verses, primarily because of what is not said.  Why did Terah choose to go to Canaan?  Why did they stop?  Why does God call Abram to go to Canaan in the very next verses?

 

One possible implication is that Terah was called by God but he failed to follow through.  God then repeats the call to his son Abram.  His son chooses to walk by faith, his father walked by sight.  He stopped in Haran. (Note: in the NT, the writers attribute the original call to Abram, but that doesn't exclude the fact that Terah was also called, but failed to finish).

 

You don't have to be a Pastor to receive a calling from God. Personally, I think God calls all of us. At the very least he calls us to make disciples, to love God wholly, and to love our neighbor. And most of us receive an even more specific calling--how God can use us to bring glory to him.

 

PONDER:

1. What has God called me to do and where have I stopped? 
2. Have I stopped in Haran? Or am I still moving forward? This new year is a chance to get moving again.

 

PRAYER: Father, what are you calling me to do in this new year? Maybe it is to continue a venture that you started years earlier. Don't let us stop in Haran. We want to be men and women who walk by faith and not by sight. We want to be used by you for your glory. We want to be obedient.

 

FURTHER NOTE (12/31/2021): The "but" in verse 31, "… but when they came to Haran, they settled there …, and Teran died in Haran." It is followed by God's call to Abram to "go … to the land." I can't help but think that the two statements are meant to contrast each other. One doesn't finish what he started, and the other finishes the task -- one is sidetracked; one does not give up. It is easy to give up, but I don't think that is ever the right choice. In fact, Sarah (one of the traveling group) is a story of never giving up, as she who was barren, finally has a child in her old age.

 

PRAYER: What am I in danger of giving up on? What do I need to recommit myself to finishing? Father, help me to continue and to finish the race with a full commitment. I want to be an Abraham, not a Terah.