And Abram Left

4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Gen 12:4-5

God told Abram to go and Abram went. We have obedience produced by faith. And Abram took his nephew Lot and his wife Sarai and all their possessions and people (literally, souls) they had acquired in Haran.

And Abram was seventy five years old when he left Haran. Seventy five! By the time I'm that old, God willing, I'm not going to want to pick myself up and leave my land and birthplace and father's house and go off to God knows where. I think I'll want to stay where I am, thank you very much. Seventy five. God willing, I'll have been retired for at least a few years by then. Seventy five. God willing, I'll have children and grandchildren. God willing, I'll have my health. I wonder what Abram's health was like. How long did it take him to get from Haran to Canaan? This is back when travel was much harder to do than it is today. A journey of a couple hundred miles (or however far it is from Haran to Canaan) would take weeks, maybe months, not hours. I wonder what Sarah thought of Abram's leaving Haran. Did they have any discussions? Did Sarah want to stay in Haran? I wonder why Lot went with them. These are questions the Bible leaves unanswered.

And yet despite all these real concerns that Abram may or may not have had, he left, just as God told him to do.

"And they set out for the land of Canaan." How did Abram know to go to Canaan? God had said, "go to the land that I will show you." God didn't specify Canaan. I wonder how Abram knew he should set out for Canaan.

"And they arrived there." God is faithful to keep His Word. It would be one thing to start out on a journey but never make it to your destination. Abram did his part by going forth. God fulfilled His promise by showing Abram the land.

PTL, Who in His holiness, gave us His Word. Amen.