Message:
Why Stop Here?
And
Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his
daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of
the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and
dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah
died in Haran. (Gen.11:31-32)
And
he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto
our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
And said unto him, Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew
thee. (Acts 7:2-3)
Terah,
Abram’s father who served the idols of the Chaldees was now becoming a convert
of Abram’s God. It was obvious he was tired of the idolatry that characterized
the city. So God called Abram to depart from his country, kindred and father’s
house to a land He’ll show him. Instead of Abram leaving, he must have told his
father. So they journey to the land of Canaan.
One
significant here is that God told Abram that he should get out to the land
he’ll show him but when he told his
father, the man tend to know where to go- and
they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of
Canaan.
This
significant shows the importance of parental guidance. We may get the vision but the destination may
be given to someone else just as you can see in the case of Abram and Terah! We
must not neglect those who are ahead of us in the father to ask for counsels. We
know that God speaks to you but never neglect the place of godly guidance. God
always places ‘terahs’ on our way to fulfill his call for our lives. This also
shows that one man can receive a call and another may receive the content of
the call. And I can link this to the submission of Abram’s ministry to Terah.
Now,
they are out of Ur of the Chaldees, a place of constant idol worship. It’s a
place of worldly lust. It’s a replica of sinful life. When God calls you, he
first separates you from the world. Being born again translates you from the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear son (Col.1:13). When you’re
born again, you leave your land of the Chaldees.
Why stop at Haran?
“and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the
land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.”
Haran
was located in northeast Mesopotamia on the river of Belias about 60 miles
above its confluence with the river Euphrates. It was a trade center on the
route from Nineveh to Carchemish (Ez.27:23); and the chief seat of worship of
the moon god- Sin.
In-between
Chaldees and Canaan is Haran! And this is the place that is most difficult to
cross over. Many Christians that came out of the world find it difficult to
remove the world out of them. There’s always a Haran in-between your story and
your glory!
Abram’s
father obeyed God’s call through Abram to depart but when he came to Haran, he
could not resist the temptation but to stay there and Abram was forced to abide
with him.
Partial
obedience doesn’t equal to obedience. You’ve to persist and not stay in Haran.
It’s a place that has swallow destinies.
“… and Terah died in Haran”
When
we refuse to remove the world from us the destiny in us dies. When we are
satisfied with the current level of success we have, we sacrifice our greatness
on the altar of today. Refuse to stay in Haran; it’s a burial place of great
destinies. You can do more than you’re doing right now. Why stop here? It’s a
danger-zone, even though it looks like a comfort-zone! Yes, I agree with you
that it’s better than the land of Chaldees but it’s not your destination. You
can’t afford to live an average life. Rise up and take new steps of greatness!
The
Israelites also did such mistake that Terah did. They got out of Egypt through
the mighty hand of God. And instead of God leading them straight to Canaan, He
led them to the wilderness. But in the wilderness, He met their needs and the
idea of “this is all there is” began
to settle in their minds. And in Deut.1:6-7 God said:
“The
LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt LONG ENOUGH in this
mount: Turn
you, and take your journey, … to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon,
unto the great river, the river Euphrates”
Arise
and move forward. There’s a place called- THERE! Why should you stop in Haran
when there’s Canaan!
There’re
many characteristics that Haran represent in the Christian race
1.
It’s
a place of temporal happiness or comfort
2.
It’s
a place of fun or pleasure
3.
It’s
a place of busyness
4.
It’s
a place of the average life
5.
It’s
a place of distractions
6.
It’s
a place of buying and selling
I prophesy from the third heaven that those who look down on you today will look up to you from now in Jesus precious name, Amen.
