Today's reading: Genesis 13:5-15:21; Matthew 5:27-48; Psalm 6:1-10; Proverbs 1:29-33
Genesis 13:12. Lot chose the “best place,” but Abram lived in Canaan, the place where the Lord has always intended him to live. We may not live in the “best place” or be in the “best circumstances” by human standards, but if we are living where God has intended us to live, then we are exactly where we ought to be.
Genesis 14 is an interesting story of Abram rescuing Lot after he was taken captive during a war in which the King of Sodom fled. Verse 12 notes that the land was full of tar pits and as they fled, some of the army of Sodom fell into the tar pits while others fled to the hills. Abram organizes his own army and pursues the armies who have captured Lot and his possessions. He rescues him, and the King of Sodom wants to allow Abram to keep some of the loot. Abram refuses, but gives a tenth of everything to the priest Melchizedek. (He is mentioned again in the book of Hebrews). Lots of interesting foreshadowing and salvation parallels in this passage.
Genesis 15:6 “Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Abram asked God for the impossible. It was impossible for Abram to have a child in his old age. Abram knew it, and Sarai knew it. But Abram was willing to ask for the impossible. And when God promised He would provide an heir, Abram believed him. It is this kind of faith that results in righteousness. Am I willing to ask God for the impossible in my life? Am I willing to believe Him when He says He will do it?
Proverbs 1:29-33. Since I know the “rest of the story” about Sodom and Gomorrah, today’s verses in Proverbs are even more interesting. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were “good” places to live in Abram’s day. Many, like Lot’s wife, considered it a privilege to live there. But they were also twin cities of sin, and in the end, they ate “the fruit of their ways.” Abram, however, listened to God and because of this, he lived in safety, “without fear or harm.”
Today’s reading reminds me that the best place to live is in the center of God’s will. And the center of God’s will is in a love relationship with Him. Then, we can trust that He is directing our steps and leading us to the place He wants us to be, both spiritually and physically.
Labels: Devotionals