January 4

Genesis 11:6

"'Look!' he (the Lord) said. 'The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing will be impossible for them!'"

At first I thought, "Why would this be such a bad thing?" Then, I remembered that mankind is absorbed in sin. God had to put a stop to the horrible outcomes that could have surfaced when men who are filled with sin get together to attempt to accomplish something. Our sin nature is not something to take lightly. God recognized that it is better to not understand each other on a communication basis than for us to plan to accomplish something together without God being our focus.

Genesis 11:31

"One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram's wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran's child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there."

I only just realized that Abraham's father began taking his family into the land that God would later tell Abraham to go to. This makes me wonder if God had originally called Terah to take his family and go to the land of Canaan or if God had told Abraham earlier (at this moment) to go to the land of Canaan and they only 'almost got there'. We know Abraham didn't always do 'exactly' what God tells him to do all the time and he tends to take matters into his own hands (ie. Egypt). I am just curious about why Terah was headed to Canaan, but stopped in Haran and then years later, God tells Abraham to keep going. How many times has God asked us to do something and we have only done it 'halfway'?

Genesis 13:8

"Finally Abram said to lot, 'Let's not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives!'"

Abraham noticed tension growing between his herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen and solved the issue by addressing it and offering the solution of parting ways. The interesting fact here is the humble offer of Abraham for Lot to choose the land of his picking. Of course Lot chose the land that looked the most favorable and Abraham gave that to him without an argument or disagreement. This shows a lot about Abraham's character in trusting God because he had already received the blessing from God and His covenant. How wonderful is it to see Abraham give up what could have been his to give to his nephew. He even risked his life and the lives of his men to save Lot when he had been taken captive during a battle. He did all this for a 'close relative (a nephew)'. How much more does he call us to do this for our brothers and sisters (even our brothers and sisters in Christ)?