The Calling May 25

Genesis 13: 1 -5

And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

It is by no accident the author chose these words, up out of Egypt. Egypt is symbolically a material place, a place of bondage and enslavement. Occasionally in the old testament, when times got hard, the Hebrews would head towards Egypt to escape, to try and make a better life for themselves, through material gain. We tend to do the same, chasing material things for fulfillment.

Abram comes up out of Egypt extraordinarily rich; the Hebrew word for rich is kabed which means heavy. Notice in the last verse Lot went with him, Lot had flocks, herds, and tents, but the author does not describe him as rich. This is because Abram carried a heavy burden that Lot did not have, the calling.

The calling can become heavy burdens or the richness of caring for others, family, work, illnesses, and possessions. Too much stuff can make us feel like millionaires of burden.

Just like Abram returned to his first encounter with God at Bethel, which means, ‘The House of God’ sometimes we need to return to the place of our own Bethel, ‘The House of God’ that place where we first called upon the name of the Lord, that place in our hearts called sincerity.

He is: Shub Nephesh

Renewer of Life

Blessing’s