Now, the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great: and you shall be a blessing.
Genesis 12:1-2
The call of Abraham was a testament to the fact that for every man God uses, He first of all SEPARATES. SEPARATION is a core course in the school of the Spirit, and not an elective; for that is where every genuine call to kingdom service begins. This separation can be in a singular or multifaceted dimension. For Abraham, it was multifaceted – “Get out of your COUNTRY, from your FAMILY and from your FATHER’S HOUSE…” This demand on the life of every man God uses varies. For Peter and Andrew, it was a separation from their flourishing fishing enterprise; for Matthew, it was a lucrative revenue service job; the rich young ruler needed to part ways with a flamboyant lifestyle and Elisha, a thriving commercial farm to be enrolled into kingdom service.
We see this over and over again in Scriptures as God beckons on men, bringing them into His making room. The fact remains that God’s method of recruiting men into kingdom service has not changed a bit; the only difference is in our object of separation. As we get recruited into His service, higher demands are placed on us in the process of ongoing sanctification which brings us into maturity and sonship.
God had to take Abraham through a practical session after Lot was separated from him. For the first time, the LORD asked Abraham to lift up his eyes and in verse 17 he said, “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Lot took a portion but God gave Abraham everything. What Abraham could not see so long as Lot remained in his life, he began to see soon after Lot left him.
Looking critically at the separation of Abraham, his separation did not end in chapter 12 of Genesis. In chapter 13, we see Abraham struggling with an unnecessary luggage which he carried from chapter 12 – LOT, whose name means “covering or veil”. As long as Lot remained in Abraham’s life, he was veiled and couldn’t see far, and Heaven needed to discharge Lot so that Abraham could fully see and enter into his inheritance; therefore, the need for another level of separation. The choice of carrying Lot along was a wrong one, therefore, Heaven had to mobilize, putting modalities in place to immediately effect the separation.
Isaiah the prophet revealed the fact when he wrote: “Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him ALONE, and blessed him and increased him.”(Isaiah 51:2 emphasis added). We are told here that God called Abraham ALONE, but empathy made him take Lot along. Soon after Lot parted from Abraham, the result was instantaneous as revealed in Genesis 13:14-15, And the LORD said to Abram AFTER LOT HAD SEPARATED FROM HIM: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” (emphasis added). God had to take Abraham through a practical session after Lot was separated from him. For the first time, the LORD asked Abraham to lift up his eyes and in verse 17 he said, “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Lot took a portion but God gave Abraham everything. What Abraham could not see so long as Lot remained in his life, he began to see soon after Lot left him.
Dear Reader, what is it that God has been calling your heart unto? Have you not wasted time enough to yield to His call to separation? What is it that is so hard for you to lay down in order to be usable by Him? What is that Lot in your life? A habit, relationship, business, job or whatever?
The third phase of Abraham’s separation that was going to certify his maturity in faith and give him the eternal statute as the father of faith was in Genesis 22 where God tested him; “And it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him “Abraham” and he said “Here I am.” Then he said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:1-2).
Here, the object of separation was his beloved son, the one he had long waited for all his life. Now, we see God confronting him to give up Isaac, not because He approves of human sacrifice (by shedding blood), but there needed to be a detachment from the heart. The King needed to take His place and seal the deep work of faith He had initiated in the life of this great hero of faith – Abraham. After obliging to God’s demand, God had to swear by himself that in blessing, he would bless Abraham, reaffirming His earlier promises to him.
Dear Reader, what is it that God has been calling your heart unto? Have you not wasted time enough to yield to His call to separation? What is it that is so hard for you to lay down in order to be usable by Him? What is that Lot in your life? A habit, relationship, business, job or whatever? That thing may not be bad in itself, but if it contests the place of God in your heart, it becomes a threat to be expelled as time is fast running out. The more you delay your separation, the more you delay your spiritual growth and maturity; and such a life can hardly amount to anything in the Hand of God.Jesus also emphasized, “But the gate is narrow (contracted by pressure) and the way is straitened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it” (Matthew 7:14 AMP). The way to life is too narrow such that there is no room for extra luggage, therefore, God must weed our lives of every excesses in order to get us qualified for the great tax ahead. The way is straitened, compressed, narrow and contracted by pressure that’s why it is only few that find it. May you be among the few in Jesus Name.
World Changers Magazine 