A way back for the wayward
Genesis 13v1-18
INTRODUCTION
Though some of us may have been Christians a long time, we can still struggle with apathy, indifference, and lack of enthusiasm. Some of us lapse for no other reason but that we just do! Having said this, there is a way back. There is a way back for the wayward. This is our message today from Genesis 13:1-18. God had made a covenant with Abram, but he went down to Egypt and put God’s promise at risk. In Egypt, God had mercy on Abram, and led him back to the Promised Land. He led him back to Canaan to worship. This leads to our first point…
THE WAYWARD WORSHIP BEFORE THE LORD (vs.1-4)
Abram returns to the place of worship
Genesis 13:1-4 says, “Abram went up from Egypt with his wife and everything he had. They went from place to place until they came to the place between Bethel and Ai where Abram’s tent had been earlier, and where he had first built an altar.” Bethel means house of God, and here Abram called on the name of the Lord. This is a good place to start for the wayward.
Abram renews his commitment
After his failure, Abram did not stay where he was; he didn’t wallow in self-pity; he didn’t go from bad to worse. Abram returned to Canaan. This is the first step in finding a way back to God. Accept your failure, learn from your failure, move on from your failure, and go beyond your failure to a greater experience of God’s love, mercy, and grace. Verse 4 says, “Abram called on the name of the Lord (Yahweh). Romans 10:13 says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord (Jesus) will be saved.”
Find your Bethel
The purpose of conviction is not to haunt us, to harm us, or to harden us. The purpose of conviction is to bring us closer to God, and to help us grow. In Jeremiah 31:4, the Lord said, “I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt.” In Revelation 2:5, The Lord (Jesus) said, “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Turn and do the things you did at first.” Find your Bethel. Find the place where you can meet with God. Psalm 105:4 says, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! This should then lead to a further step on this way back for the wayward…
THE WAYWARD WAIT BEFORE THE LORD (vs.5-13)
Conflict arises
Genesis 13:1 says Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev… and Lot went with him. Abram and Lot had been together from Ur to Haran, through Canaan to Egypt, and now back to Canaan. During this time, their livestock had grown so much that the land could no longer sustain them. Verse 7 says quarrelling arose between their herdsmen. Abram and Lot then tried to reach some agreement.
Where to now
As the senior member of the family, Abram could have had first choice, but he said to Lot in v9, “The whole land is before us… If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” After his experience in Egypt, Abram had learned to wait upon the Lord. This of course is the first choice!Picture the scene in vs.8-11 with Abram and Lot standing on the heights of Bethel surveying the scene (see map). On the west is Canaan and on the east is the plain of Jordan, which was well watered like Eden. Abram allows Lot to choose where he wanted to live, and vs.11-12 says, “Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east… to pitch his tents near Sodom.” Lot chose what to him was lush and plentiful, but there was a price to pay. Verse 13 says, “The people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. Ultimately, this is what sin is.
Choosing to follow the Lord
Notice that the call of God can sometimes disturb family ties. In Matthew 19:29, Jesus said, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” The relationship with our earthly family should not hinder our commitment to God’s family.
In seeking God’s will, the most important question is where we can best serve God. In other words, guidance is not about where to be; it is about who to be. It is about serving God. Joshua 24:15 says, “Choose this day who you will serve…but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” This leads to a further point. Like Abram, the wayward can and should worship the Lord, the wayward can and should wait upon the Lord, and…
THE WAYWARD WALK BEFORE THE LORD (vs.14-18)
Back in the Promised Land
After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram in vs.14-17, “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. Walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” Abram is now back in the Promised Land. From here, he would walk before the Lord. As far as we know, he never went back to Egypt.
Walking with God
In v17, the Lord confirmed his covenant with Abram. He said, “Walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” So Abram moved on to Hebron where he built an altar to the Lord. In this context, he would walk with God. He would walk with God as Adam walked with God, as Enoch walked with God, as Noah walked with God, as Moses walked with God, as Jesus walked with God, and as we walk with God.
When we walk with the Lord
1 John 1:5–7 says, “God is light; in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness… we do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin.” In the Bible, we are not encouraged to have a relationship with God, but to walk with God (the former is passive whereas the latter is more active). According to Ephesians 4:1, we are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called. This is the way back for the wayward. It begins as we worship before the Lord, it continues as we wait before the Lord, and it grows as we walk before the Lord…
Bernard Cartledge