Missed Blessings

The story of the ancient patriarch Abraham is one that reaches across nations, cultures, and religions. God chose Abraham. He selected him from among all others to bestow his special blessing.

I was reading Abraham's story the other day and noticed something I had never before seen. In Genesis 11, we learn about Abraham' father, Terah, and his extended family:

Terah took his son Abraham, his daughter-in-law Sarai, and his grandson Lot (his son Haran's child) and left Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But they stopped instead at the village of Haran and settled there.

Here is what I am wondering: why did Terah stop? What interrupted his trip to Canaan and prompted him to settle down in a town that bore his deceased son's name?There is something else about this overlooked verse that makes me go "hmmmm."

Is it possible that the covenant relationship God established with Abraham was intended for Terah? Did he miss out on that incredible blessing because he stopped short of the Promised Land? Of course, that is all conjecture.

What isn't speculation is this: every time I stop short of complete obedience, I cheat myself out of the blessings God has for me. There is no such thing as "partially obedient." And, I suspect, there is no such thing as "partially blessed." God wants my complete obedience, and He wants to completely bless me. Now if I can just get out of the way so He can.