The story of Terah may be the saddest one in the Bible. Why? He stopped halfway.

Terah was the father of Abraham. Terah and his family left their homeland in Mesopotamia, starting the long journey to the Promised Land.

Terah and his family “set out” on their journey of faith. “But when they came to Haran, they settled there.” (Genesis 11:31).

Terah settled for second best.

If Terah had been faithful, Terah might have become as great a blessing to Humanity as his son Abraham has become. Today, Abraham is honored by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. But few people have ever even heard of his father, Terah.

Why? Why did Terah stop halfway in pursuing his dreams for his life?

We can speculate.

We can seek legitimate excuses for Terah. Perhaps he fell ill.

We can wonder if perhaps Terah was only supposed to start the journey to the Promised Land, inspiring Abraham to complete the journey.

After all, Moses only started the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. Moses himself never entered the Promised Land. Instead, Moses mentored Joshua, teaching the person who would actually enter the Promised Land.

But I prefer to leave the question unanswered. That way each of us can ask ourselves the same question.

Why?

Indeed, this question is best asked each day about each way we are seeking our personal Promised Land.

In some aspects of our lives, we may already have entered our personal Promised Land—blessing countless others.

In other aspects of our lives, we may have “stopped halfway” in our efforts to fulfill our dreams of blessing countless people.

So each day and in every way, we should challenge ourselves to bless more people by asking, “Why?”.

Why?

Why have I stopped “halfway” in my efforts to follow the Way of Abraham? The Way of living that blesses all people.

Why have I stopped “halfway” in my efforts to follow the Way of Moses? The way of living that challenges pharaohs to let all people be free.

Why have I stopped “halfway” in my efforts to follow the Way of Jesus? The way of living that helps all hurting people.

Why have I stopped “halfway” in my efforts to spread the Light?

Why would I do any less than give my very, very best on each day in every way to spread the Light of all Humanity (John 1:4)?

The Light that shines in the Darkness! (John 1:5).

The Light that overcomes the Darkness! (John 1:5).

The True Light that gives Light to everyone! (John 1:9).

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This blog is based on page 24 of my book, The Promised Land.