He Came Half-way

and stayed there--we do not know just how long, but probably about

five years.



Now, I believe that there are a great many Christians who are what

might be called Haran Christians. They go to Haran, and there they

stay. They only half obey. They are not out-and-out. How was it that

God got him out of Haran? His father died. The first call was to

leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into Canaan, but instead of g ing

all the way they stopped half-way, and it was affliction that drove

Abram out of Haran. A great many of us bring afflictions on

ourselves, because we are not out-and-out for the Lord. We do not

obey Him fully. God had plans He wanted to work out through Abram,

and He could not work them out as long as he was there at Haran.

Affliction came, and then we find that he left Haran, and started

for the Promised Land.



There is just one word there about Lot--"and Lot went with Abram."

That is the key, you might say, to Lot's life. He was a weaker

character than Abram, and he followed his uncle.



When they got into the land that God had promised to give him, Abram

found it already inhabited by great and warlike nations--not by one

nation, but by a number of nations. What could he do, a solitary

man, in that land? Not only was his faith tested by finding the land

preoccupied by other strong and hostile nations, but he had not been

there a great while before a great famine came upon him. No doubt a

great conflict was going on in his breast, and he said to himself:



"What does this mean? Here I am, thirteen hundred miles away from my

own land, and surrounded by a warlike people. And not only that, but

a famine has come, and I must get out of this country."



Now, I don't believe that God sent Abram down to Egypt. I think that

He was only testing him, that he might in his darkness and in his

trouble be