Genesis 12:1

Genesis 12:1 says, Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:  God spoke to Abram and gave him specific instructions.  Abram was to leave his country, his kindred, and his father's house.  I believe that too often today people allow where they live and closeness to their family to dictate what they will do for God.  I also believe that God still calls people to leave home and family to serve Him by spreading the gospel in other parts of the country and world.  Verse two states, And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:  God's call to Abram came with a promise.  God said He would make Abram the father of a great nation and his name great.  God's call to us today comes with a promise.  God will write our names in the book of life and we will become a part of His kingdom.  Verse three adds, And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.  I believe that the reason Abram was to be blessed was not because of his own goodness, but because of his obedience to God.  When God blesses us today, it is not because of our own goodness or because we somehow deserve it because of who we are and where we were born, but because of God's grace to us.  If we want God to bless us, either as an individual or a nation, we must first be obedient to Him.  Verse four declares, So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.  Abram almost did as God instructed, but Lot went with Him.  I don't believe that this was totally doing what God instructed Abram to do, and later Lot would cause Abram problems.  When God calls us to do something, we need to be totally obedient or it will later cause us problems.  Verse five adds, And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.  This states that Abram took not only Lot but some other people, maybe servants, with Him.  Once more, we need to be certain that when God directs us to do something that we obey His instructions without adding to or taking away from them.  Verse six says, And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.  Abram went to the land of Canaan, and there were already people there.  Wherever God calls us to go today, there will already be people there.  Still, as followers of Christ, wherever we are, we are a part of God's kingdom if we are following His will for our lives.  God did not promise that Abram's becoming a great nation would be without problems, and we as followers of Christ today are not promised that life will be without problems.  Verse seven states, And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.  Though there were already people there, God promised that He would give this land to Abram.  I believe that when we are where God wants us to be that He will let us know and we can be certain of His promises to us.  Abram built an altar to God, and we today must always honor God even as we are doing His will.  Verse eight declares, And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.  When Abram got to where he was going to settle, he once again built an altar to God.  We can never leave our worship of God behind us at an altar we built before.  We must always make worship and obedience to God a daily practice.