Read: Genesis 11
THEME: There are some incidents in Abraham’s life that are hard to explain unless we see how God’s grace towards us can make us gracious towards others.
Abram (as he was then) first enters the biblical record when his father, Terah, was still head of the household. God had spoken to Abram about leaving his country and family and it seems he had shared this with his elderly father, as it was the whole family that uprooted.
Now some have argued that, in having the family accompany him, Abram was acting in disobedience. It is interesting, though, that there is no record of God upbraiding him for this. Abram’s family was traumatised by sorrow. Abram’s father had lost one son and was facing the loss of a second. Moving out of Ur and setting up home in a city that shared the name of the one they had lost was no doubt therapeutic for them all. There was no need for Abram to be in a rush if in his obedience he could be gracious.
When we are young we are often in a rush and some of us slow down little in the years that follow. There is, however, a graciousness that can be shown when life is taken at a more measured pace.
When Abram’s father died, Abram did move on. Obedience and graciousness do not have to be mutually exclusive. Abram sensed the grace of God in permitting his step-by-step departure and found the scope to show graciousness to his grieving household.
May we be gracious in showing respect to our households.