APPEARANCES CAN DECEIVE…
Opening Prayer
Lord, give me discernment today to recognize the truths of Your Word.
Read Genesis 13
Abram and Lot Separate
13 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[a] 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.
Footnotes
- Genesis 13:15 Or seed; also in verse 16
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘All that glitters is not gold’ (proverb). What really matters to you?When Abram, Sarai and Lot return from their disastrous time in Egypt, Abram at least appears to have learned a lesson he will not easily forget. He had become wealthy (2) but his money did not make him independent (5). His nephew Lot, on the other hand, evidently has a different approach to wealth. To avoid disputes between their herders, Abram suggests Lot chooses some land to live on himself (8,9). Lot chooses his land on the basis of what he can see (10), but with scant regard for the godless way in which life was lived in that area (13). At first sight – and from an economic perspective – it looks as if he chose well. But we will return to the story of Lot’s land in chapter 19.
Abram then receives a repeat of the previous promise from God – but this time the land is not merely given to his offspring (12:7) but also to him (15). Abram’s response to God’s promise is to calmly accept God’s will, and worship (18).
Apply
Our daily choices may not be as momentous as Abram’s and Lot’s, but they matter. Ask these questions: What will this choice mean for my walk with God? For my relationships with my family?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to honor You in the choices I make today.
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