Are You Listening?
Now Think On This
Steve Martin
“God told Abram: "Leave your country, your family, and your father's home for a land that I will show you. I'll make you a great nation and bless you. I'll make you famous; you'll be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you; those who curse you I'll curse. All the families of the Earth will be blessed through you." So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.” Gen. 12:1-5 THE MESSAGE
Have you ever wondered what Abram (later to be called Abraham) was doing when He heard the Lord call His name? The Scriptures do not say much about him prior to that, except that he was with his father Terah, on their way to live in Canaan, when they then settled in Haran. His father died there.
“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 out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.” Gen. 11:31-32 NASU
The Torah doesn’t tell us how long they had lived in Haran before God speaks directly to Abram personally. Had it been a few years? A decade? Maybe it had been 20 years or more he lived there? I guess that part of his story isn’t important info needed, otherwise the Lord would have had Moses (Moshe) write it down. But it does say enough to us about how the Lord moves in our lives.
We may be going along in our day, “minding our own business” as they say, believing that we have gone far enough in our walk with the Lord. We are ready to settle down in the comfy place we have arrived at. “Retirement” may even be on the near horizon. After all, 50, 60, 70 years of walking with the Lord has gotten us this far. Surely that must be enough until our time ends here on this planet.
But just as a side note - time with God doesn’t really matter when it comes to new assignments for us, and the age of our body. Moses was 80 when he got his new mission, remember? That would mean he had already completed 2/3 of his life, knowing he lived to be 120. If we do some simple math, Moses would have been around 60 years old on his timeline if calculated using our expected life span years, assuming we generally now live to be around 88 or 90 ourselves. Get my point?
Now back to Abram. After a time of settlement, the Lord spoke a clear word to him, as head of his household. To Abram, the husband of Sarai, He told him to move on.
We come to a point on our journey when we can become content with life as we know it. We have accomplished a few goals; we have raised a family who are now raising their own; we have reached destinations that have been good. Now we feel the time has come to sit back, relax in that good ole’ leather recliner, and let the baton be passed on to the next generations. It’s their turn after all, right? Let them do the work now.
But is that it? Have we already completed the race, reaching the finish line, and just wanting to wait for the last song to be played?
I think not. I believe the Lord has new assignments for the 50+ generation. I personally am ready to get one myself.
The Lord is speaking. He is even wanting to speak a word to you personally – through His Word, by His Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), or through another person or message heard today. Hey, maybe even through a movie of all things!
I am listening. I hope you are too.
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People. Inc.
Note: This is my 144th message I have written. Originally published as Ahava Love Letters until January of 2014, when I changed it to Now Think On This. I like numbers. I like 144.
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Now Think On This #144 “Are You Listening?” by Steve Martin
Date: In the year of our Lord 2014 (04.20.14) Resurrection Sunday at 8:00 am in Charlotte, NC.
All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on our newest website: Now Think On This
