Ep. 126 | Back to the Altar | Genesis

Listen in as Pastor Eddie Blalock shares today’s daily devotional featuring Genesis 13:1-4. Let’s be Formed by The Word together!

Ready to connect? You can send us a message through our website theorchardcc.org, or email Pastor Eddie Blalock at eddie@theorchardcc.org. You can also follow The Orchard Community Church on Facebook and Instagram to stay connected, and find more content on our YouTube channel.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Every one of us eventually reaches a place where we have to decide. Will I trust God even when I can't see where He's leading? That's not a new question. It's one of the oldest questions in the Bible. No one illustrates that journey better than Abraham. Welcome to Forms by the Word, where we open God's Word not just to study it, but to let it shape our hearts and transform our lives. Sometimes our journey of faith leads through familiar places. Other times it leads into the unknown. There are seasons of joy and seasons of waiting, moments of great faith and moments of painful failure. Genesis 11 through 25 tells the story of an ordinary man called to an extraordinary walk of faith, and in the process helps us discover that God still leads ordinary people, like us, into an extraordinary walk of faith. So whether you're driving, working, exercising, or simply enjoying a quiet moment with the Lord, I invite you to open your heart and let's learn to trust the God who always keeps his promises one step of faith at a time.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Those of us who live close to the river understand how easy it is to drift. Drifting is easy because it's so natural. Rowing, on the other hand, takes a lot of work. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to drift in life? For instance, most struggling marriages don't end because one spouse wakes up and decides to stop loving the other. Instead, they drift. Date nights disappear, conversations become shorter, affection fades, life gets busy, and little by little, through drifting, distance replaces intimacy. It's also true of our spiritual lives. We don't usually wake up one morning and decide, well, today I'm going to abandon my walk with God. We simply drift. We neglect prayer. We skip time in God's Word. We miss worship personally and collectively with the body of Christ. We become distracted, and little by little the current carries us somewhere we never intended to go, but somehow drift there. No one plans to drift spiritually. It happens one small step at a time. But here's the good news the same God who welcomes us when we first come to Him also welcomes us when we come back to Him. Abram's journey is living proof that when we wonder, when we drift, God invites us to return to the place of worship and dependence on Him. So in our last episode, you may recall, we saw Abram cading to fear and getting himself into a big mess. The good news was that God graciously intervened and made a way for Abram and Sarah to leave Egypt. Well, today in Genesis 13, verses 1 through 7, Abram leaves Egypt and begins their journey back to Canaan. This short passage shows us the importance of returning to the place of worship and dependence upon God. Let's read the text and walk through it a moment. Beginning in verse 1 of chapter 13, we read, Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev. Now we're going to talk about that in a moment. That's an important statement. He went up from Egypt to the Negev, he, his wife, and all he had and lot with him. Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai, where his tent had formerly been, to the site where he had built the altar, and Abraham called on the name of the Lord there. Let's stop there. Three very important points that I want to take from this narrative. The first thing I want us to see is that God gives Abram a second chance. Clearly, Abram had failed his test. First we see him caving to fear. A famine arose in the land, you may recall, and Abram understandably feared that he would not be able to feed his family nor his herds, so he loaded up the family and went down to Egypt. Throughout the scriptures, Egypt represents worldliness, sin, and separation from God. Fear was not his only failure. We also see Abram shamelessly lying and maybe even worse, putting his wife in danger. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, Genesis 13 doesn't begin with condemnation. It begins with grace. God welcomes Abram's plan to come home. Well, the truth for us is that failure doesn't disqualify us either. God has plenty of grace to cover all of our failures. So the first thing we notice, God gives second chances to Abram, and he gives a second chance, and second chance says to us. Second thing we notice, Abram returned to the altar. Now, yes, the newsmaker is Abram is returning home, but notice more specifically, he's making his way back to the altar. Moses intentionally repeats the location. Moses, I believe I've said, I believe Moses is the writer of Genesis. So Moses intentionally repeats the location. He went from Egypt to the Negev, from the Negev to Bethel, from the Bethel to the place between Bethel and Ai, and ultimately he went to the altar. It's almost like retracing spiritual footprints. Abram didn't need a new revelation. He needed to return to the last place he clearly met with God. That's important, isn't it? We when we lose something, what do we do? We backtrack, we trace backwards until we come to the place that we finally remember we left it. Third thing I want us to see. Notice that Abram comes to the place of worship at the altar, and that worship restores his perspective. Fear drove Abram to Egypt. Now worship brings him back. Abram calls on the Lord, not because he deserves mercy, but because he's received mercy. So let's think about this just a moment and maybe ask a few questions for reflection. First thing, where have you drifted in a life? Where have you found yourself drifting away? It's not intentional. You didn't plan to. You just kind of drifted, maybe in your spiritual life. Maybe in your marriage, you've lost the closeness that you once had. You've lost the excitement in the marriage that you once had. You've lost the passion in the marriage that you once had. You've lost the relationship that you once had. Where have you just drifted? Maybe something else. Maybe you've just drifted with your children into an unhealthy place. I don't know, your parents. Where have you drifted in life? Second, where was your altar? What I mean to that is where is your spiritual marker? Where where is that place that brings you into God's presence in a powerful way? In other words, if you're going to return to the altar like Abram, what do you need to return to? Maybe to a consistent time of prayer? That's something that's very difficult to do. It's hard for us to get to the place of prayer consistently. And I'm convinced it's because the enemy knows that and does everything he can to prevent us and to make us drift from that time of prayer. Or maybe for you a scripture reading. Maybe you've you're still on the prayer train, but your scripture reading is off. Well, you know, it's important because the Bible is described as our food. It's described as milk for the young believer. It's described as bread for those who have advanced in their faith. And it's described as meat for those who are mature and are ready to handle that. Maybe it's scripture reading. Maybe it's church. You know, it's easy to drift from church. It's easy if we come to the church for the wrong reasons or in the wrong attitudes or with the wrong goals in mind. It's easy to just kind of drift from church. I, you know, I never really meant to stop going, never meant to stop going to group. I never meant to stop serving. I've just kind of drifted into this period. What do you need to return to? Maybe it's a dependence on God. Maybe life has just brought you to the place that you feel self-reliant and you realize, you know what, I've drifted from the Lord, and I think the altar I need to return to is my dependence upon Him. Well, here's my suggestion to you. Start on your way back today. Don't wait. Start today. When was the last time you felt closer to God than you do today? Now listen, drifting doesn't require a dramatic comeback. It begins the same way it started with one simple but intentional step. Return to the Word of God, return to prayer, return to worship, return to obedience, like Abraham in Genesis 13. Sometimes the answer is simply to retrace our steps back to our altar. In Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1, the writer of Hebrews gives us this very important word. It says, For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard so that we will not drift away. Wow, what a powerful word. Three simple things to remember there and will be finished. First, drifting is subtle. You seldom notice it happen. Second, drifting is natural. The currents of the world are always pulling at you to drift. And third, returning must be intentional. Turn back to the Lord before the distance becomes greater. And to do that, you're not going to drift toward that. You're going to have to make an intentional decision. Remember, no one drifts toward God. We drift away from Him unless we intentionally stay close. So our takeaway today, the road back to God always passes by the altar. Let's pray. Father, thank you that failure does not have to be the end of the story. Thank you for the example of Abram, who returned to the altar and called on your name again. Help us to do the same today, Lord. Draw us back to you in fresh dependence and worship. Give us wisdom for the pressures and conflicts that we face and form us by your word today. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Thanks for joining us today on Formed by the Word. As we journey through the life of Abraham, we're learning together what it means to walk by faith and trust God one step at a time. Wherever you are on your own journey today, remember, the same God who called Abraham is still calling, leading, and faithfully keeping his promises to his people. Pastor Eddie would love to hear how God is using these devotions in your life. Your thoughts and comments are always welcome. Until next time, remember, God rarely shows us the whole journey.