It takes faith

Genesis 13: 8-11

8 So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. 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 up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (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:



Abram gives Lot the choice of the lands. Lets’ look at the Land that Lot chose: 10And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. Nice Lush pastures, plenty of water, even compared to the garden of the Lord!

Abram is left with the scraps. It makes me wonder what most people would do in that situation. What would you do? Lets put ourselves in Abrams place. We know the Lord, he speaks to us, and he has personally promised to take care of our family for generations to come. We have trekked through the land, and found a place to settle, now there is unrest between our herdsmen, and our traveling companions herdsmen. We need to make a break, so, and here is the question……would we give Lot the first pick? Would we continue to place our trust and faith in the Lord, and say, “you know what Lot, take what you want, I’ll take what is left”. Or would we say “you know what, I have moved, drug my family through the land, I am tired, and weak, I have given my all for the Lord, now I am going to take the best of the land, and leave Lot to fend for himself.” I know we would all like to say, “well of course we would give Lot fist pick”, but if we look at the world today, we see that not many people will actually put their needs behind someone else’s. The bible is full of different passages, and parables where we are shown that putting others first is the right thing to do, however it takes a great deal of faith to do that. We have to know deep down inside that the Lord will provide for us. We have to have that unshakeable faith.

That is my prayer for each of us; that we might each day learn to have a little more trust and faith in the Lord, and a little less selfishness. Hopefully we all can become more like Abram, and do the right thing. If we want to be the greatest, we will have to serve others first not ourselves


Peace,
Rev. T