January 19, 2024 | Be God's Light
Abram & Lot Go Separate Ways
Scripture: Genesis 13(NIV)
1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.
5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”
10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”
18 So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.
Devotional
When Abram relocated to Canaan, he was accompanied by his nephew Lot. They traveled together to Egypt during a famine, then returned together to Canaan. Each of them had great amounts of wealth and servants and livestock. The land would not support both of their groups in addition to the other people who lived in the area. So Abram and Lot’s herders began to spat like two toddlers fighting over a favorite toy.
Abram suggested they separate to make peace. Lot chose the lush valleys, and Abram settled in the dry hill country. As the elder, as the uncle, and as the one through whom God made the promises, Abram could have taken whatever land he wanted and sent his nephew packing. But Abram wasn’t in it for himself. He trusted God completely for his future. As a result, God told Abram that the entire land would belong to him and his offspring.
Sometimes we need to step back in order to trust God for the future. Admittedly, that’s hard. Looking out for number one is normally our favorite hobby. Yet the Bible is consistent throughout that we are to love others in real and tangible ways. Romans 12:3 says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought” and Philippians 2:3-4 adds, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
In the end, Lot’s lush valley was nothing more than sin city. Perhaps others who made a life in Sodom thought they deserved to parade their wickedness before the world. After all, they lived in the best land. And Abram simply made an honorable life where he settled. I love how this chapter ends: “There he built an altar to the Lord.” It doesn’t matter what you have; it matters what you do with it.
Poem
My Lot In Life
My Lot in life
Always wants the best
Always sees the richest
Always claims the fattest
Always wants more
My lot in life
Is to sacrifice the best
Is to see the very poorest
Is to claim to live the simplest
Is to always want Shalom
