And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:17-18 ESV
The call of Jesus to us is not just a one time call to find salvation. He calls every morning when we open our eyes and every day we have to choose to follow, because our journey will not be over till we see the streets of Heaven!
Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. Genesis 11:31 ESV
I used to think that God called Abram to go to the land of Canaan, as if it were just a lightning bolt out of the blue. It seemed that when God said, “Go to a place I will show you.”, it was if it were a place totally unknown and unfamiliar to Abram. But in today’s reading, we discover that actually Abram’s father, Terah, had set out from Ur to go to Canaan years before: but he never finished the journey. Terah did leave behind his home country. He left behind the land of idolatry, his familiar surroundings and friends, but when he got to the town of Haran, Terah decided to settle. Of course, God doesn’t give us all the particulars, of Terah’s motives, but whatever they were, they caused him to give up on his goal.
Now Terah started in the right direction but never made it all the way, because he settled. But the good news for us today, is that even though Terah settled for less, God didn’t He hadn’t changed His mind, and unlike any of us, God has all the time in the universe to bring His plans to pass. So, God waited. He waited a generation as Terah grew old and died in the safe little village of Haran. They must have lived there for many years during that waiting time, because by the time chapter twelve starts, Abram is already seventy-five years old. But God’s call never grows old, He never gives up and God never settles for less. Instead, God came and called again, but this time HIs call was to Abram:
“And the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you – And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot, his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of CANAAN...”
Genesis 12 1; 5a ESV
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,
come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isaiah 55:1 NIV
When we lived in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania we had two Elkhounds: named Sonya and Thunder. Though they were sisters from the same litter, and looked alike, their personalities were completely different. Thunder loved nothing better than to sit with me and let her ears be scratched, but Sonya was always looking for a chance to escape and would usually entice Thunder to run after her. Late one snowy Winter night, I cracked the front door open to see how much had fallen, when Sonya suddenly shot out between me and the door, with Thunder close behind. “Sonya! Thunder! Come back!” I shouted after them, but rather than turning or even slowing down, they hurried off into the darkness. As Elkhounds I knew they weren’t in any danger from the cold, and since they were ignoring me, I simply shrugged my shoulders, closed the door, flicked off the light and went to bed. In the morning you never saw such a meek couple of puppy-dogs, curled up by our doorway and eager to be let back in.
Sometimes our walk with God looks like that night on the mountain. God loves us to come sit close to Him. He wants nothing more than to care for us and keep us safe in His presence. In today’s verse, He calls to us, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.” But sometimes our heart longs to run, and when we do God doesn’t chase after us. We think we are getting away with something, but in reality, we are trading a safe warm home for a night in a snowstorm of doubts, fears and false promises. How amazingly good it is that God doesn’t lock His door and vow to never speak to us again. Instead, when we limp home with our feet frozen from the cold, and huddle up outside His door, He calls us again, but this time He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest!” Can you hear Him calling? Are you ready to listen to His voice? The moment our heart says, “Yes” we will discover a rest that He paid for on Calvary and the home that He has prepared for us to stay in forever!
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-31 NIV
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