Genesis 13 -- Test #3 Passed

Abram came away from Egypt a very rich man.  Despite failing his first two tests, God blessed him.  He and his nephew Lot had so much livestock that the land could not support them together.  It was God’s way of taking Lot out of the picture.

Abram had the right to choose where he would live and therefore where Lot would live, but he determined to be a peacemaker.  “The heart of every problem is the problem of the heart … Lot’s heart was really in Egypt,” my commentary said.  He was letting possessions become his god.

My commentary pointed out what Abram did differently than Lot:

                Abram lived for others, not for self.

                Abram lived by faith, not by sight.

                Abram let God choose for him.

                Abram gave thanks to God.

Abram had learned to say what I also learned while adopting my son:  “I trust You, God!”

It was interesting reading that “the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time,” for these two men were unconcerned about them.  Lot didn’t mind joining them.  Abram knew that God would take them out of the equation.

Abram also knew that God was in control and would bless him wherever he was, and he built altars wherever God moved him to worship God.  There’s no record of Lot ever doing that.

I noticed a strange sentence in my commentary:  “Lot was a righteous man, but not devoted to God.”  It called him “carnal (saved but living for the world and the flesh).”  That just doesn’t seem to fit with my idea of righteous.

Father, I know there will be many more tests of faith in my own life.  Please continue to direct me.  Help me to listen to You and not to my own heart.  I want to be a man after Your own heart.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford