“When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. “-Genesis 14:14
Merriam-Webster defines mobilize like this: to put into movement or circulation, to assemble and make ready for war duty, to marshal (something, such as resources) for action.
Abram didn’t simply feel sorry for Lot’s family, he allowed his compassion to mobilize him to do something. He gathered some people around him who were willing to put themselves in harms way to rescue an entire generation. He mustered an army to fight. There are three things I recognized about this army.
The army was big. It was comprised of 318 men ready to fight for Lot’s family. Abraham could not do it alone. We need an army to rescue an entire generation. These men were not looking to others to step up and fight, they were willing to get into the fray themselves.
The army was trained. They were trained to fight. They were ready at a moments notice to spring into action if needed. They anticipated. They were prepared. They had already counted the cost.
The army shared DNA. They were born into his household. They shared Abraham’s love and commitment to Lot’s family. Abraham had allies that fought with him.-Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner. These were folks outside of his family that saw the value in recovering the next generation. However, you shouldn’t expect your allies to fight for what you are unwilling to fight for yourself. We are responsible for going after the next generation. Others will fight with us, but they will only give to the extent we are. Mamre, Aner, and Eshcol would not have gone after Lot if not inspired by Abraham.
Recovering the next generation, however, requires us to pursue them. “When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. “-Genesis 14:14
Abraham was intentional about going after them. He had to uproot himself from the comforts of Hebron to pursue. He had to push pause on his own dreams to make certain that the next generation could pursue theirs too.
Abraham went looking to engage a culture that had already taken that generation captive. He understood that “If God be for us, who can be against us.” He had to wade into enemy territory to fight for them. He wasn’t fighting against Lot, but against the culture that had captured them. We need to stop waging war against the generation we have been called to recover and start waging war with the culture that captured them.
The enemy already had a head start. Nevertheless, Abraham was willing to go the distance. From Hebron to Dan is 171 miles. He was willing to in the time, effort, and energy it took to reach them. The church, today, struggles to get people to travel 50 feet to serve in Kid’s church, but Abraham traveled 171 miles to rescue his family.
You can’t pursue from the pew!!! He wasn’t just trying to recover the people, but all that the enemy took from them too!!! “Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.”-Genesis 14:16
I don’t want to simply see the next generation rescued, but restored! We need them to recover so that they can fight for the next generation. The church must mobilize. We need some folks who are willing to be a voice for their generation, we need a generation to rise up willing to hear and respond, we need people willing to get into the fray and fight, we need people willing to go the distance and not give up until that generation is fully recovered.
Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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