March 4 I Thursday

Numbers 29-31

Mark 9:1-29

“The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia… ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said…So [Abraham] left…and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.”  —Acts 7:2-4

Have we received a call from God to do something and find ourselves slow to action? This was the case for Abram. Stephen’s speech before the Sanhedrin in the opening verse reveals to us that Abram received the call to leave when he was living in modern day Iraq. Genesis 12:1 says, “The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.’” Abram was told to leave behind three things, but we find he was only obedient to one of them; he left his country. Genesis 11:31 reveals, “Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.” 

       What we can observe through Scripture is that Abram was partially obedient. He struggled with leaving and letting go. He only travelled part of the way and settled in Haran. Letting go is not easy and leaving all we know is not a quick process. Abram grappled with leaving his father’s household and wanted to bring him too. Yet, Abram was called to follow God and we see Abram slowly stepping into it. 

       Some of us measure our own lives by the best moments of someone else’s faith, like Abram, as we recall his mighty act of faith in Genesis 22, where he offered his one and only son, Isaac, in obedience to God’s command. Yet, we fail to realize that even for biblical heroes, there is a journey for them to embrace their faith, a slow progressive revelation and understanding of who God is. 

       We may not know when Abram first received God’s command to leave and let go of everything, how many years or decades went by before he fully stepped into all that God had for him. But we do know that Abram was 75 when he did come to the place where his life aligned with God’s command: “Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran” (Genesis 12:4). Knowing that Abram struggled and stumbled along the way reminds us of how patient God is and how we are never too old to get onto God’s agenda. 

       With the fullness of God’s love, blessings and patience in mind, what might God be inviting us to let go of today? Is there something that God has been calling us to leave? Maybe it is something very dear to us. Even though letting go is a process, may we be faithful to what God is calling us to do.

Prayer: Loving God, thank You for Your love, blessings and patience. I am thankful that I am never too old to get onto Your agenda. Help me to be faithful to what You have called me to do. Amen!