DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- BACK TO THE ALTAR

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – BACK TO THE ALTAR

"Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journey from the South as far a Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD." (Genesis 13:1-3)

Abram's father, Terah, was from Ur of the Chaldeans, but emigrated with his family from Ur with the initial intent to go to the land of Canaan. They got as far as Haran, probably still in Mesopotamia, north of Canaan, where they settled. After Terah died, God appeared to Abram and told him to leave his family and go to a land that God had prepared for them. So Abram picked up stakes and moved to the land of Canaan, which God then promised to Abram and his descendants. And there Abram built an altar to worship the LORD who had appeared to him. Then he settled between Bethel and Ai, and he built another altar and called on the name of the LORD.

There came a famine in the land, and so Abram moved with his family to Egypt. That was not the land God had called him to. There was no altar in Egypt. After an incident with Pharaoh and Abram's wife Sarai, he was expelled from Egypt, persona non grata.

Then he returned to Canaan to the place between Ai and Bethel where he had made the previous altar. And there, Abram called on the name of the LORD.

Sometimes we are like Abram – we get sidetracked from where God has called us. It seems that we have the wanderlust in us, looking for something better. But when we find that the grass is no greener there, if we are smart, we end up coming back to the place where we first met God.

God is patient, and welcomes us back. But sometimes the sojourn away from the place where God has called us causes us grief and problems. We need to return to the altar.

There's a song that says, "That's what the altar is for. You don't have to carry those burdens anymore." The altar is a place where we meet God and worship Him. When we have drifted away, we can return to the first altar. Come, let's return to the altar.

Love, Dad