Abram obeyed God immediately. God
asked Abram to move to Canaan and he did so without hesitating and
finally he arrived in Canaan.
'Travelling through Canaan,
they came to a place near Shechem and set up camp beside the oak at
Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Then the
Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I am going to give this land to
your offspring." And Abram built an altar there to commemorate the
Lord's visit." Genesis 12:6, 7
The Lord confirmed His promise to
Abram once he arrived in the land promised to him. God was
faithful, He knew that Abram gave up a lot to come to this foreign
land and might even be tired after the journey. Plus once Abram
arrived there, the land was full of Canaanites, without any
foreseeable chance of Abram's descendants occupying the land. But
God calmed his heart and gave him the reassurance he needed once
again. God not only reassured him, but He appeared to him, what a
wonderful sight that must have been! And what did Abram do? He
built an altar to the Lord to honour His visit. This altar stood as
a reminder to Abram of God's promise to him.
"After that, Abram travelled
southward and set up camp in the hill country between Bethel on the
west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar and worshipped the
Lord there." Genesis 12:8
Right after building an altar to
God, Abram travelled further and built another altar to the Lord.
Abram didn't have a church he could go to where he could
fellowship, he didn't have gospel music to lift him up, he didn't
have a Bible to read and he didn't have a pastor to shepherd him.
But he did what he could do. He built altars as a sign of his
dedication to God and he worshipped the Lord there. He knew that
God had to be the centre of his life, because without Him he was a
nobody. He and his household were alone in a foreign country,
intruders in the sight of the Canaanites, a soft target. But with
God by his side, he was invincible.
Today we need to regularly focus on
God and His promises for us. We need to spend time at the 'altar'
and worship God. God is faithful and will give us the reassurance
we need through His Spirit and then we need to learn from Abram. We
need to follow God and work on our spiritual life. God needs to be
the centre of our lives. We are nomads too in a way. We were born
in this sinful world, but when we were born again, we received a
new home in heaven. So even though we live here, our future is in
the Kingdom of God, our true destination. Let us rather focus on
our true lives and rededicate ourselves to building the Kingdom of
God, than to worry about what goes on down here.
Father, thank you so much for all
Your promises. Thank you that You are so faithful. Thank you that
we are mere nomads on this earth and that our true future awaits
us. You are the centre of our lives, please come and take Your
rightful place. In Jesus' Name. Amen