BSF Genesis: Week 12, Day 2

Today’s Scriptures

Questions:

3.

• He let Lot choose his land
• Better to be wronged and cheated than file lawsuits against believers in secular courts
• be patient, make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit, bond of peace
• Be kind and compassionate, forgiving, walk in the way of love

4.
a.
Age and covenant from God. God promised the land to Abram’s descendents, not to his cousin
b.
It is very difficult, especially since it affects not only self but also family. It is easier with relatives, but then even it is hard. It is against our greedy nature to purposefully allow others to pick the best of the bunch and take what is left.

My Daily Journal:

What if Abram and Lot weren’t supposed to part company?  I think most would agree that they faced a time of trial.  We read the story and see Abram as the gracious older uncle who gives up his right and allows Lot to choose the better land.  It is not that I don’t believe this to be true and I don’t mean to disparage Abram, but what if they weren’t supposed to part in the first place.  Lot was Abram’s ward, his pupil per se.  It states in the verses that the land could not support both of their flocks and they shared the land with the Canaanites and Perizzites.  Abram made the decision to part.  But should he have elected to reduce their flocks?  Could they have blessed their neighbors, would that have opened a new door?

I know this is a hypothetical rabbit hole, but it served as an interesting point to me and a good reminder that the true lesson isn’t that things turned out OK for Abram, but that ever so slowly Abram was learning not only to trust God but to trust Him first.  I am slowly learning this same lesson.  I trust God, but too often I make a decision based on my own viewpoint first.  This does not prevent God from acting and even blessing me, but it also doesn’t mean that I, necessarily, made the right decision.  Pray first, act second.