January 6, 2026 - Genesis 12-14

“Now the LORD said to Abram . . .” (12:1).  The story of redemption continues to unfold, and we know how it proceeds:  the covenant with Abraham passed down through his sons, Joseph, deliverance and the law through Moses, Joshua and the Promised Land, the judges, the kingdoms and the prophets, exile and restoration, and the waiting for Messiah.  It is a glorious story!  And so much time could be spent right here in these chapters along with Abraham.  As I begin to read, this morning, though, these first words jump out at me:  “Now the LORD said to Abram.”  God told Abram to go from his land to another, and “Abram went, as the LORD had told him” (12:4).  I think I mentioned this in one of my December notes, i.e., Dr. Mohler’s commencement sermon from Luke 2.  The angels announced to the shepherds the birth of the Savior, and “they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger” (Luke 2:16).  They went with haste.  We love to dilly-dally and often find all sorts of reasons not to do what God would have us do.  Remember the disciple, rather than immediately follow Jesus, who said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Matthew 8:21)?  And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22).  That is, “Quickly, make haste and follow me!”  Let us not be like this disciple.  Let us be like Abram.  Let us be like the shepherds.  Let us be listening to God and, by faith and with haste, doing as he instructs us for we know that his instruction is wise, glorifying to himself and good for us.

‘Tis by the faith of joys to come

We walk thro’ deserts dark as night;

Till we arrive at heav’n, our home,

Truth is our guide, and faith our light.

The want of sight she well supplies;

She makes the pearly gates appear;

Far into distant worlds she pries,

And brings eternal glories near.

Tho’ lions roar, and tempests blow,

And rocks and dangers fill the way,

With joy we tread the desert thro’,

While faith inspires a heav’nly ray.   –Isaac Watts (1766)