SCRIPTURE
"There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe". (Genesis 12:10)
OBSERVATION
Abraham did a lot of traveling in Genesis 12...Haran to Canaan to Shechem to the east of Bethel, and prior to Egypt he lived in southern Israel (the Negev) where there was a severe famine. This was the first of two severe famines in the land (the second famine occurs in Genesis 26 with Isaac, Abraham's son). It's interesting that God used two famines to get his people to move. Both Abraham and Isaac had to pull up the tent stakes and move to a new place, otherwise they would have remained where they were.
APPLICATION
As I read this I couldn't help but think there is a tendency to settle in, become comfortable, and seek a routine. Spiritually, the danger that comes with all of those things is a dryness, a famine of sorts. God becomes familiar and His word no longer seems to have its power. Amos talked about a famine in the land, not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11). What do I do when I experience one of these dry times? Because they do come. I can learn a lesson from Abram...move! I can stay where I am and die or I can search for food. The spiritual food is Jesus. He is the bread of life and the living water. When I'm in those dry places I need to get back into the bible, pray, forsake sin, love God and others. The things Jesus teaches me to do. It's not fun moving but it's more dangerous to stay. My spiritual life is on the line...the end of the line is eternity. When a spiritual famine hits I go for the spiritual food...Jesus. God can use those times to unsettle me and get me to move to new places in my faith.
PRAYER
Lord, thanks for the way you feed my soul. Give me the insight of Abram to keep moving in my faith and feeding on the spiritual food and to avoid a spiritual famine.
