God’s urgent call to Abram was, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house.” Abram was to leave Haran where he was settled with his family and go to Canaan, an area renowned for its wickedness and idolatry. And the call of God was with urgency and an overwhelming vision of God’s glory. Why would God do this?

The meaning of Abram’s father’s name, Terah, is “one who delays.” Terah had begun the journey toward Canaan but fell short of it and died in Haran. There he and the rest of his family had mingled false teachings with the religion of the remnant. For this reason, God urged Abram to flee from Haran. It would have been far more dangerous for Abram to remain among his family under these conditions than to live among the debased, idolatrous Canaanites.

How far are we prepared to go? Will we perseveringly follow Christ into the heavenly Canaan, or will we tarry, eat the poisonous tares mingled with the bread of life, and die in Haran?