“And Abram went up out of Egypt…unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.” Genesis 13:1, 4
In chapter 12, we see how the Lord called Abram from a life of idolatry to know and serve Him. Abram built an altar to the Lord. This reflects his heart of worship, trust and obedience to the one true and living God. Sadly, chapter 12 also records how Abram left the altar in a time of difficulty and went to Egypt. There, fear led him to compromise and lie.
The Bible doesn’t shy away from recording the embarrasing flaws of even the “good guys”. Abram, a man of faith, had a lapse of faith. He blew it! He stumbled and messed up. If Abram, the father of the faithful, could stumble at the virtue he was most known for, shouldn’t you and I be honest and humble enough to admit our weakness? Shouldn’t this lead us to depend upon God for grace and be watchful over our fickle hearts? We should take this failing example of Abram seriously.
But we should also note the never-failing mercy and grace of God. Because God is faithful to His stumbling people, He brought Abram back out of Egypt all the way to the place where he had built an altar. Back to a heart of worship, trust and obedience. There are some falls and returns that are more dramatic than others. But the reality is, we need every day, in our hearts, to come back to the altar. To daily repent, confess and worship our great God. If you have stumbled down to Egypt in one way or another, come back to the altar. God is faithful!
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