Bible Reflections From Scripture Union Volume OneSample

Choices Read Genesis 12:10–13:18 "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted….” Genesis 13:14-16 Scene 1: Crisis Times “Why did your God bring us here, Abram? The animals are dying. We are hungry. Everyone is leaving.” Mounting hardship. Abram, pressured to act, lost his focus. He forsook God’s Promised Land. He followed the crowd to a strange land. Confused and fearful, he resorted to lies about Sarai. Was the new wealth worth it? God rescued them, but the migration was clearly a poor choice. Scene 2: Prosperous Times. Lot’s wealth increased. He could choose where he preferred to live. He weighed the options and decided to follow his heart and his desire for the finer things in life. History would reveal this as a near-fatal choice. Racial riots, ethnic discrimination, threats of communism, recessions and retrenchments are some distressing challenges which have confronted Asia since the 1960’s. With each crisis, Christians joined the crowds flocking to immigrate. But when the Asian economies boomed Christians have also prospered. Their wealth enabled them to pursue better living environments and better education systems in developed countries. They again found reasons to forsake their Asian homelands. The Lord told Abram to look around for He had given him that land. Likewise, we should also look around, and see our motherland as our heritage from God. The growth of the Asian Church is our responsibility. If educated professionals continue to leave, who will take the spiritual leadership in the local churches and teach from God’s word? Instead, let the better country we desire only be the heavenly one (Hebrews 11:16). Can you honestly say, “This land is mine, God gave this land to me”?