July 6, 2026:

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“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. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.” (Genesis 12.4-5)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

So, when we read the stories of the Bible, we have to understand that the intricate details connect and flow together so that God’s message to all generations remains visible. Today’s connection is quite visible and its meaning is clear: “…they arrived there [that is, in Canaan.]” It is important to here two things in these verses:

First, Abram did what his father intended to do- he went on to Canaan. And saying “his father” is a call to both his earthly and heavenly fathers. As an obedient son, Abram accepted the instruction of Terah and moved with him with all of his possessions. He put his trust in his father to make a consequential move. They were leaving a life of familiarity behind for something to be established in the future. In truth, the road to Harran may have been familiar. It was the land of Lot’s family bearing the name of his father who had moved from there to the Ur of the Chaldees. Perhaps it was a kind of homecoming for Lot and his family and filled with remembrances and stories of days gone past. Perhaps they had visited there many times before but not until this same circumstance. That circumstance was one of life changing parameters. They did not pack up for a visit or some extended stay. They packed up all they had, owned and possessed and were on their way. The goal was to travel the full extent of what is now called “The Fertile Crescent” to arrive at a place where they knew only from stories other men told. Canaan was not a barren place or virgin land. It was inhabited by other people and tribes. There may have been a connection of some kind but it is not revealed. All Abram knew was his father asked, perhaps commanded, that they take on the move and he would show him a place where they had not ever been before. All Abram knew was “…to go to a place where I would show you.” We hear these words from God’s mouth. They may have been a reiteration of the same words spoken to Terah. We do not hear them in Terah’s story because, in reflection, Terah “settled,” and that leads me to the next point.

Second, Abram did what his heavenly Father directed him to do. It was, as I said above, to complete the journey Terah had begun but did not finish. And whether he could have (and chose not to) or couldn’t have (and so encouraged Abram to move forward), didn’t matter because he didn’t go on. The calling was left to Abram who thus heard the word of God “…to go to a land I will show you.” This Abram did. What scripture tells us is what is more important at that point. It says, “Abram arrived.” It does not say “Abram completed the journey.” It does not say “Abram settled.” It only says “Abram arrived.” The journey was not finished. Where he and all his family came to was not the conclusion of the journey but a definitive new beginning in a place never before seen by him or them. It was not, as I mentioned before, a land untouched nor unseen by humans. It was a land of resources and opportunities that now were offered to Abram. It was a land of covenantal promise as God spoke to Abram about its future and his. It is a type of creation story where God realigns and reorders what is there to fulfill its created and intended purpose. To say “Abram arrived” was a step into the future of God’s plan for redemption of the whole world.

Mighty ones of God, we each are called to such a journey to a place where we have not been. The surroundings may seem familiar but through the eyes of God more is seen than we could have ever dreamed of. We get those glimpses and peeks into the future with sunrises, sunsets, vistas of grandeur and situations of calamity. We are struck to the heart with the challenge to “settle” and become a part of the landscape in sad surrender or to “arrive” and become a part of the solution instead of the problem. Abram was afforded this opportunity though I doubt he saw it as a problem that needed solving. It would soon appear that way but for the moment- Abram arrived and the whole world was spread out before him. It is spread out before us, too. Shall we walk by faith? Or shall we walk by sight?

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.