PONDER POINT: Don't Stop Half Way -
This Christian walk is difficult...keeping it pure and staying faithful and true to God is very tough. Walking the walk is hard. With all the things that come at us: pressures, temptations, selfish wants, pain, sickness, death, betrayals, sorrows, losses...It's all so difficult. But I would encourage you to stay the course. Don't stop at the halfway point; those things will happen regardless! LIFE IS LIFE - Jesus isn't a magic potion or fairy godfather that makes all the boo's go away. He EQUIPS, ENCOURAGES, ENGAGES with us as we deal with it all...If we Quit, WE LOOSE OUT...
Look at the end of Genesis 11 and into 12 - the call of Abram and Terah, his dad. Terah had sons when he was 70 years old; at some point when his sons were grown, he heard a call from God to move toward a land God promised. Yet it is after one son, Haran, died; he takes his other son, Abram, and grandson Lot, Haran's son, and their wives. He travels with all of them and gets to a city, and we find out it's called Haran, and he stops. He 'settled' there. Maybe it was a city he helped set up, or a place he renamed after his son's loss...interestingly, he never got past Haran. Sad, too, because it was the halfway point to the promised land, and his other son, Abram, had to pick up the pieces and carry on without his dad. Many people who read the story don't realize that Abram went on to the Promised Land WHILE his dad was still alive.
When you do the math, God called Abram at 75, making Terah only 145, and yet he died in Haran at 205. He lived 60 years after Abram left to continue to follow the Lord. What caused Terah to stop following God? Was it the pain, the loss, the development of a city in his son's honor or namesake, or the creation of his own endeavors? Was it that he couldn't move past the association of his son's life or death? Some ask, then, why did God mention that Terah died before we read about the mention of God Calling Abram to continue on?
Perhaps it was because Terah would no longer be effective for God. He wanted it the way it was, no more challenges, no more sacrifices, no more stands...this was it...he found where he wanted to be and was willing to be left there... he wasn't willing to budge anymore, not even for God.
This life is not easy; it is treacherous. It is filled with snags and heartbreak, regardless of whether you are a Christian or not. That said, don't stop moving toward the things God has called you to. Don't get stuck in Haran. Interestingly, his name means desolate place, barrenness. It might have been a bustling city with many distractions, but it was a desolate place nonetheless. Don't get stuck in the hurt.
...Keep moving forward...
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