Genesis 13:9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

Go with God was a common blessing of departure. It isn’t in common use any longer. It isn’t in common practice either if you look to the results of choices made these days. Could I ask you what was at stake there in Genesis 13? What was it all about?

Lessons, if they are to be learned, must be seen down at the root of the situation. If you look back and say Abraham was chosen to follow God and not Lot, then why did God save Lot out of Sodom? So perhaps that isn’t the problem. Is the lesson in the relationships within the tribesmen? They fought over grasses for their flocks and no one came to make peace between the two. But Abraham did separate them to end the fighting, so is that fair to say either?

Perhaps the lesson is in the journey itself. I cannot help but see similarities between Abraham and Moses here. Both were going to a place God would show them. Both encountered hardship and dissatisfied sojourners, dissention in the ranks. One turned to God to be the answer to problems, the other allowed man to make his own choices.

With Moses God provided meager provisions but they lived and stayed together, they did not break the bond of unity. With Abraham man made his own choices. The bond of unity was broken because they did not believe God was big enough to solve their problems.

Families and churches suffer the same fate if left to their own devices.

Psalms 74:4 Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

This is without a doubt the most difficult of all scriptures to clarify. The reason is because of the similarity between ensign and sign. The symbolism is so powerful that the hidden meaning is difficult if not impossible to discern without God’s help. In this lies the problem, because those who set up their ensigns believe with a fervor of the roar, that they hear God.

“I hold forth the Word of God!”

Sign or ensign? Difficult to say isn’t it. Those who know God don’t have to be told that he is holding forth the Word, they know it. Then again, the lost do not know it and must of a necessity be told it is the Word of God. So who is to say sign or ensign?

A cross on a steeple signifies a church. Sign or ensign? Who am I to judge what goes on in another congregation? Who am I to judge the sincerity of any who attend there? It is not for me to know unless God is calling me to enter in and then and only then if I hear and obey the One True God.

Many people believe that they are called by God to do a good work, specific to a wound, an injustice, or a clear service. All those have labels and identities called signs. Sign or ensign? Now do you see the difficulty? Passion may or may not indicate an ensign.

So what is my point?

Isaiah 18:8a Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs…

You are the sign of His love, mercy and grace.