Daily Devotions
Genesis
"O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Yes, I have a good inheritance." Psalm 16:5-6
Text: Genesis 13:1-18
THE CHOICE THAT LOT MADE
On the surface, Lot seemed to have made the best choice! The land was rich. The prospects of becoming even wealthier were very real. However, Lot had not factored in an important consideration.
“But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked
and sinful against the Lord.”GENESIS 13:13
1. The Strong Stance God Took against Wickedness
God took a very strong position against wickedness. That was made clear right from the start! He warned. He punished. He brought in a great flood to destroy the generation of Noah. He dispersed the generation of Nimrod when their arrogance caused them to think about erecting the Tower of Babel! Surely, Lot must have known these things. Nevertheless he chose to live in the vicinity of Sodom and Gomorrah because that seemed advantageous to him.
2. The Powerful Influence Wickedness is Capable of Exerting
Perhaps Lot felt that he was strong enough to resist the powerful forces of evil and thus he chose to live in Sodom. Or perhaps he underestimated the insidious power of evil when he decided to move away from Abram! Whichever the case, Lot appeared to have not consulted God in any way!
A SPECIAL WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT FROM GOD
Abram must have felt a sense of sadness that his nephew had now left the family. He was certainly old enough to make that decision, and he had to honour the word he gave to Lot, nevertheless, his heart must have felt a measure of grief. God came in at that moment with another word! (This is now the third occasion when the Lord spoke to Abram).
“And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him:
‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are-
northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land
which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.
And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth;
so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your
descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land
through its length and its width, for I give it to you.'”GENESIS 13:14-17
Whatever sadness Abram may have felt was now replaced by this special word of encouragement from the Lord – understandably so! It probably wasn’t just the thought of having more land than Lot that filled Abram’s mind. It was the fact that the Lord had once again come to speak to him personally! Nothing could be more wonderful than that!