Where was Abram when God first called him? “In Gen12:1. He was living in
Haran”. No. Not by any means. The God of
glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he
lived in Haran, and said to him, 'Go out
from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show
you.' Act 7:2, 3(ESV) It was Ur of the
Chaldeans God called him out from to go into Canaan: The land of promise. So
how come about his stay in Haran? His father took him there in a botched
attempt to get to Canaan. Terah took his
son Abram...and they journeyed together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the
land of Canaan. But when they had gone as far as Haran, they settled there Gen 11:31(ESV)
Those things God has asked you to leave - have you left them? He was to
leave not only his country and relatives but also his idolatrous father’s household.
Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
'Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of
Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods’ Jos 24:2(ESV). He left his country because of the call of God on his life, as recorded
in Act 7:4(GNB) And so he
left his country and went to live in Haran. After Abraham's father died, God
made him move to this land where you now live. But he didn’t leave his father’s household just yet. Instead what (who)
he was to leave now led him.
Like Abraham we are also a called out people. The Lord also
says, "Leave them and stay away! Don't touch anything that isn't clean.
Then I will welcome you and be your father” 2Cor 6:17, 18(CEV). We are not now to leave a physical Ur of the
Chaldeans but to leave sin completely alone, leave idolatry alone, leave self
love and selfishness alone so as to carry our cross as sojourners (like Abraham),
following Jesus into the Kingdom - living as His disciples. You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more
than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers
and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your
own life Lk 14:26(CEV).
Some of us have fulfilled a part of that instruction. We have left
something, some things. Everyone can testify to that; but we are still being
led by some other things the Lord also said leave. We don’t steal but “settle”
officials, and can take a brother to court before unbelievers for our money. We
no longer commit fornication, but pornography or masturbation is leading us to
some shops and websites. Is that not settling in Haran? Brother, have you
settled down where you should have long left? Sister is the year ending and no spiritual
progress? Look around you. By now you
should have been teachers, but once again you need to be taught the simplest
things about what God has said. You need milk instead of solid food Heb 5:12(CEV). Are you living comfortably in Haran?
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