8 So Abram said to Lot, ‘Let’s not have any quarrelling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, FOR WE ARE BROTHERS. 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.’ Genesis 13
Often parting or separation can be the result of negative circumstances, but in this case it was the result of God’s favour and blessing upon two close relatives. They’d received so much of God’s abundance that the land where they lived could no longer support them both. We might say it was a good problem to have but it would result in a dangerous situation for them both.
Though Abram was the senior and called of God, he allowed Lot to have first pick of the land. Only after they’d separated did God speak to Abram about his inheritance in the land. The way of the world is to grasp all that we can and hold onto it, but God is better able to protect all that He has marked out for us.
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 for ever. Genesis 13
Genesis 14 continues with an account of various battles between the kings of the land, all recorded and named in the Bible. (Proof of the validity of the Book) The fighting eventually saw the seizing of Lot and someone who escaped went to Abram and told him of Lot’s capture.
14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. Genesis 14
ABRAM ANSWERED THE CALL to get everyone and everything he had to go and rescue his nephew. Lot had no other relatives, nor close friends who would go to his aid, Abram was his only hope. Some of us may get a call in 2025 to set aside what we’re doing and help rescue someone we know. We may be their only chance of help and it may cost us, but if we’re willing, the Lord may be able to use us deliver them from serious trouble. We serve a merciful God who has rescued us many times, let’s be available to help others in their need.
12 For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favour as with a shield. Psalm 5, by David
May the Lord bless and keep you today and every day. Immanuel, God is with us.