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1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. (Genesis 12:1-9 NIV Bible)
Moving is one of the hardest things to do, especailly for a child. When I was born Mom and Dad lived in a concerte block house behind a relative's house in Kingsville. That structure no longer stands, but it did for a long time and I had a chance to see it as we drove slowly by. I was still an infant when my parents moved to the home I would come to know as the family home on West Avenue A. That home meant the world to me for thirteen years. The day came when Dad had to make a decision to leave us on Avenue A and make his move to the unknown city of Houston. That move had a profound spiritual impact on me, my Mom, my grandmother (Dad's mom), for we prayed harder than we ever did. Many men in Kingsville had already moved to Houston, mostly alone, and would come home on Fridays and return back to the Big H on Sundays. My father followed that model and went with our neighbor to seek employment in Houston. It didn't completely register that I would be involved in a move some time later, for now the shocking news that during the school week I would not have a Dad bothered me more than I could understand. The memory of that Sunday is still fresh in my mind, heart, and spirit. We cried and hugged and cried and cried. My father climbed into our neighbor's truck with other men and off to the evil empire of the North they went. I prayed and cried as I entrusted my Dad to the Lord. Years later, Nellie and I would make several moves with our children involved in the heartbreak and unknown of each move.
Abram heard the phone ring and he picked it up and it was God. God said quite plainly, "Abram you're going to move. First Haran will miss you but you've done well there, and First Canaan will be a great move for you. God also said, in DS fashion, "You will do so well that your reputation will be known throughout the conference, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will move next year; but all the people who come to know your ministry will be blessed!" Click. The phone went dead. Abram goes into the kitchen, makes himself a cup of coffee and Sarai comes to join him. "Who called?" she asked. "Honey, you're not going to believe this, but that was God. And He's moving us from First Harah to First Canaan." Sarai shocked into not moving, prayed silently, then looked up to see how her husband was taking it. "You know you're seventy-five, don't you?" She already knew the answer for she heard his knees creak and groan every morning. "I know how old I am, but I still got it in me to continue. This may be our last move, but we will make the best of it, with God's help."
Abram loaded all his stuff and Sarai's stuff and began the trek to Canaan. At the first stop, God said this would be Abram's land, and his offspring's land, and Abram's first worship was there, and all along the way he stopped to pray and worship the Lord, trusting that His promises would be kept. As we learned yesterday, God keeps His promises and we are blessed, not by what we do, but simply by who we are. We are God's beloved children, for whom God will do anything to bless us. And we trust in God to help us fulfill that to which we were called.
PRAYER: God of covenants and God of the promise, through Jesus we praise You and thank You for Your faithfulness; bless us to be faithful and fruitful; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Share God's promises and love to all people.
Receive my blessings of joy and love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jrl.
