Division
We
pick up the story today with Lot and Abraham returning back to Canaan as
wealthy men. Both have prospered. Abraham has mentored Lot well in how to be
successful.
However,
note also that success breeds contempt.
Because they are successful, their shepherds argue over the land. Their herd animals are competing for
resources. Lot’s success and Abraham’s
success puts them at odds with one another.
Let’s
learn this lesson, shall we? How often
do we think that success is the cure for what ails us? How often do we sit back and think that our
life would be better if we just had a better job, or more money, or a different
house, or a newer car, or some other goal.
But the truth is that success is not the cure. In fact, wealth and success often brings more
problems as well as different problems.
So,
success isn’t the cure. Then what
is? We’ll talk about what the cure for
strife actually is a little bit later when we get to dive deeply into Abraham’s
actions in this chapter.
Lot’s Decision
Look
at how the Bible describes the land of the Jordan. Lot looks and sees how well watered the land
is and snatches it up. Granted, I know
Canaan is not chopped liver, either. But
Lot clearly is allowed to pick and so he picks the greater of the two. He’s no fool.
He takes the greater of the two lands.
Of
course, hindsight actually tells us differently. Lot picks the land with greater
potential. Lot picks the land with
greater resources. However, Lot’s not
alone. When Lot picks the place with
more potential for success, he also finds himself dwelling among a people who
also are striving for success. Lot finds
himself among a rather worldly culture because he’s living through resource
driven eyes. When you go to a place of
success, you also go to a place where worldliness is like to reign supreme.
Abraham’s Faithfulness
I
did give this paragraph above so that I can lift up how Abraham looks to his
neighbor, in this case – nephew, and Abraham has enough trust in God to say to
Lot that Lot can have whatever he chooses.
Now that’s a statement of faith right there. No wonder God chose Abraham as the father of
His people! Abraham honestly gives Lot
the choice because he is confident that God will make him prosper wherever he
leads his flock. Wow.
So
that gets me to thinking. How often do
we miss opportunities to express our true faith in God because we are worried
about ourselves? How often do we not see
a time and a place to demonstrate God’s ability to provide for us because we
are too focused on providing for ourselves?
I
am terribly guilty of this. I hang my
head in shame. Although I’d like to
altruistically say that as a pastor I have been completely concerned about the
“other” and about the portion of God’s flock to whom I am called, unfortunately
that is not a statement that I can make.
I have made decisions and encouraged others to make decisions based on
what is partially beneficial for me.
Sure, it’s not happened often.
But it has happened. As I go
through life, I can’t help but occasionally influence people into the choice
that’s best for me.
This
leads me to believe that this faith of Abraham is hard to come by. In a way, this is an obvious statement to
make. After all, how many men are
remembered some 4,000 years after they lived?
Abraham’s faith takes guts.
Abraham’s faith takes an intimate relationship with God. Abraham’s faith takes a perspective regarding
life that our “stuff” is not as important as our walk with the Lord.
We
can go a step further here. Remember the
strife that we talked about at the beginning of this post? If we look into this passage we see that
Abraham’s faith is actually the resolution of that strife. Because Abraham is faithful to God and knows
that God can prosper him anywhere Abraham lands, Abraham can suggest that they
separate in addition to allowing Lot to have first choice. Abraham’s faith meets Lot’s self-centeredness
and comes out victorious in the end.
Amen. Let it be so.
Lord,
teach me to be like Abrahahm. Teach me
to have a faith that longs for you like Abraham did. Teach me to be willing to give of my
resources knowing that You will prosper a servant who truly reflects Your love
and a faith in You. Teach me to long
more for the coming of Your Son more than the coming of payday, Christmas, or
even my day off.
God’s
peace. May you be blessed with the faith
of Abraham this day.
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