Years ago I was working two jobs trying to get into professional golf. One of those was a courier job where you had to use your own vehicle. I had a very reliable Honda civic hatchback, great for driving in the city, a fair bit of space in the back with the seat folded down. It was the best car I had ever had up to then.
I got to thinking, if I bought a truck I could carry more and make more money with my deliveries. I was dead broke so I went down to east hastings street in Vancouver where there were many questionable used car dealers. I noticed a couple trucks in the front row of this one lot.
One of them was a mazda in beautiful shape on the outside, and looked really nice. The other was a chevy s-10 in pretty rough shape, some rust, the paint peeling off on the front, and a few dings, not very attractive to look at and very dirty inside. I test drove the mazda and it didn’t start well, a little puff of smoke came out when it did start, and when I was driving it, the shifting was kind of funny.
The owner of the lot came with me and asked if I felt anything in the clutch, which should have given it away, but I loved the look of this truck and said, no, feels OK to me, even though it didn’t really. Then I drove the chevy and it started great, drove great, had much more power.
Well to make a long story short, I traded in my Honda for much less than it was worth because I wanted this mazda truck. And of course I signed to take it as is. Two weeks after I got it, the clutch needed to be replaced and in the winter when the weather got cold, it would smoke up the whole neighborhood when I started it until the engine got warm. It was so embarrassing. Six months later, the engine literally blew up, with this muddy looking stuff all over the engine compartment. That was the last I saw of that truck.
I had to quit my courier job and instead of a 40 minute drive I had to take a 2.5 hour bus commute to the golf course I was working at. Why am I sharing this story? Because I ignored what I knew was the right thing to do, and made my decisions based on greed and surface attractiveness. It ended in disaster.
Today we are going to look at a story in Genesis where we’ll see how Abram and his nephew Lot make a decision, and the effects of the different motivations used to make it. How one of them used the same kind of motive as I did with my truck, and the other trusted God with the process.
So let’s begin by looking at how:
I. Abram Starts Over (vv 1-4) after being kicked out of Egypt
So Abram went up from Egypt. Notice that up is always a good thing in the Old Testament, it almost always means toward Jerusalem. The text says he was very rich with stuff now after the Egyptians basically paid him to leave, and he went to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai.
Isn’t it interesting how God wanted him there in the first place, but Abram decided to head south to Egypt. Well, this is just a reminder folks that no matter what we decide, God will always have his will prevail sooner or later, so why not just follow Him from the beginning. We could save ourselves so much time and grief.
Abram goes back to the place where he was last in the will of God, where he started, and he does the right thing, he calls upon the name of the Lord. Very important, he doesn’t go back and think up another scheme now that he is starting from scratch again, he does what he should have done in the first place, calls upon the Lord.
Notice Lot went with him and there they both are in between Bethel and Ai, between the house of God in the west and ruin in the east, and we’ll see the significance of this again in a few minutes.
Now Abram has all this stuff including a lot of livestock, and so does Lot. Remember there was just a drought, so the land had not fully recovered and there was no way their abundant livestock could live off the same land. They had to separate, one of the curses of having all this stuff. And this is where we see how:
II. Abram Solves the Problem (vv 5-9)
The herdsmen of Lot and Abram were fighting and it mentions that the Canaanites and Perrizites were also dwelling in the land, so it was pretty crowded. Notice how Abram now takes the initiative and tries to nip this conflict in the bud before it gets out of hand. He says, “Hey wait a minute, we are brothers, there shouldn’t be strife between us.” They were family, but it also demonstrates a principle that should be in the church, amoung brothers and sisters in Christ. There shouldn’t be strife between us.
Do you know how many family fights are about money and stuff? Finances are still the number one cause for divorce in North America. But Abram decides to be a peacemaker, not a troublemaker, he is willing to sacrifice to end the strife. This is a great example of what every believer should do when there are disputes about material things.
Christians bickering about these kinds of things hurts our testimony for the Lord. Do you think the unchurched people in our small town don’t know about all the church fights and splits?
When a so-called Christian acts like a greedy idiot in the community. We carry the label of Christ everywhere we go and we are called to be peacemakers and not covet material things.
Now Abram as the eldest, had every right to take the land of his choosing, but look at what he does, he says you choose Lot. This is a great example of how Abram has learned his lesson and:
A. He trusts the Lord with the decision
He says to himself, you know what, last time I made the decision based on what I thought was right, and I blew it. This time I’m going to call on the Lord and trust Him, and allow him to work through Lot by having Lot make the decision.
Don’t underestimate the significance of this. The land was the basis for their survival in this agrarian society and he knows that Lot would be crazy not to take what appeared to be the best land for himself. But this time Abram does not let fear rule his decision and he turns it over to the Lord. “I’ll take what Lot doesn’t and believe that is God’s will.” Total trust.
Abram was now living by faith, not by sight. He not only knew that God would take care of him, but he also trusted God’s promise about his family and wasn’t worried about what decision Lot would make for himself. Some say that what Abram did was wishy washy or showed weakness because he was afraid to make another mistake. I don’t believe this simply because before he did anything he called upon the Lord.
Not only does Abram trust the Lord, but:
B. He also puts self aside
Of course, I don’t think you can do one without the other. Usually when you decide to follow God, you have to put yourself aside because he will often ask things that you would rather not do, things you can’t really understand, because he wants you to have faith in Him, not yourself. I’m sure Abram knew he was going to get the not so attractive land to the west.
How often are we willing to let someone else make a decision that will greatly affect us trusting that the Lord is behind the decision. Remember it said earlier that he called on the name of Lord before he did this. That is faith, allowing God to run the show, surrendering our will for his.
So Abram puts the decision in Lot’s hands, then Lot looks around and:
III. Makes a Poor Decision (vv 10-13)
Logically it makes sense, why would he not pick the land that looked the best? Man, it even looked like the Garden of Eden. But it is east, Lot knows east is bad, he also likely knows that man is not meant to be in the Garden of Eden anymore. Lot’s heart is still in Egypt, he doesn’t want to follow Abram anymore. It says the land that Lot looked upon was like the Garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. He longed for what they had in Egypt. Riches and luxury.
A. Lot’s Decision is Self-Centered
First of all notice that Lot doesn’t call upon the Lord, and he never builds an altar. He not only doesn’t want to follow Abram, he doesn’t have any interest in following the Lord either. The text says Lot lifted up his eyes and he didn’t see God, he saw the Jordan valley and all that the world had to offer him. When Abram lifted his eyes up from where he was, he saw what God had to offer to him and his offspring.
Sure Lot wants what is best for his family from a material standpoint, but he also knows that he is to follow God. He makes his choice based on what he believes is best for him, what appears on the surface to be the most profitable for him, but also knowing in the back of his mind what is right. Just like me with the truck, I made the decision based on what I wanted, rather than what I knew was right.
Zoar, Sodom and Gomorrah are all to the EAST of the DEAD Sea. See how Lot is standing between Bethel on the west and Ai on the East, God’s house and ruin, and he chooses to go east to Sodom or Toronto (bad), a big city to settle and give up the tent lifestyle just like the Nimrods. Why did he do this? Because it was pretty and looked very fertile. He thought he would be happier there despite God’s promises.
Of course we have never chosen our own satisfaction over obedience to the Lord so I don’t need to make an application here right? And of course every time we do that it works out perfectly in the long run doesn’t it? Well, just like every time when God’s people choose their way over God:
B. Lot’s Decision Brings Problems
He settled amoung the cities of the valley and we know that later these cities are destroyed by God because of the extent of the sin, and it already says in this passage that the people of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord. This was already known when Lot decides to go there. He knew he was choosing to go to a sinful place.
Now that’s all we know now, but wait til we see what happens with Lot and his family as the story continues. Not good. This decision has devastating consequences later. Lot didn’t move into Sodom immediately, but pitched his tent toward Sodom. He was basically living outside these cities taking advantage of the carnal goodies they offered, and also trying to get the spiritual blessings of a separate walk with God.
Sound familiar? Don’t we try to serve two masters a lot of the time, using the saying we are to be in the world but not of the world. Neither God nor the world will allow us to ride the fence, and in Lot’s case he eventually dwells in Sodom all the way. I am afraid that Christians are a lot more of the world than just in it.
This saying is meant to describe us as walking in the world for the sake of Christ, looking very different than the world, not blending in, that is being of the world.
Of course this whole thing could have been avoided in the first place if Abram hadn’t disobeyed by taking them all to Egypt as we saw last week. So the decision Lot makes looks good now, but because of the selfish, disobedient motives it causes great problems in the future.
When we make decisions, at least three things should be in the front of our minds. What could happen down the road, am I making this decision with love for others on my mind or is it a selfish decision, and does this decision fit with what I know is the will of God?
Now we don’t know yet what’s in store for Lot, but we do hear that after this decision:
IV. Abram is Blessed (vv 14-18)
The Lord says to Abram, “now look in every direction, this will all be yours forever, all of it! And I remind you again of the earlier promise that I will make your offspring so abundant you won’t be able to count them.”
Then in verse 17 we hear again, ARISE, WALK THROUGH the entire length and breadth of the land. Remember Lot settled, but again God is commanding Abram to get up and walk around. So Abram MOVED his tent, but then we see the subtle disobedience again. Many people miss this.
It says he settled by the oaks of Mamre, he didn’t walk through the entire land as God commanded. Maybe he thought, “he doesn’t mean right now, we just got back from Egypt, surely God is going to give us time to settle in before I have to go again”.
Once again it shows that nobody is perfect, but if we are doing our best to obey in this fallen body of ours, and our heart is in the right place, if our motives are good, God gives his blessings anyway. Not an excuse to disobey, but a reminder that God looks at the heart more than the actions. Remember David, God says he is a man after God’s own heart even though he was an adulterer and murderer.
At least Abram is still in his tent, and he did set up an altar. Isn’t this so common for all of us though? We say, “I know God said this, but you can’t really take that literally, or he really meant this. I’ll obey a little bit up to the point that it starts to get uncomfortable.”
Then we start putting words in God’s mouth trying to justify our decision to only obey part of what he says. No, when God makes his will known, it is time, he doesn’t reveal it until it is time, but then it is time, and we are to follow it completely. Not just the parts that we want to.
Again I ask, how many of you would get a directive from your boss and put it off until it was more convenient for you, or only do part of it telling him that he really meant this, not what he actually said. We wouldn’t do it with our boss at work, but we do it with God all the time.
Now here’s an excuse I often find myself using. “I don’t know what God’s will is in this situation.” But then I hear loud and clear, that is because you don’t know me, or you know my will, you just don’t like it. Do you know Jesus? If you’ve been married for thirty years can you honestly say that you wouldn’t know what your wife or husband’s desires are?
If you don’t know God’s will, it is because you don’t know God well enough. And how do we get to know God and his will? Well rocket science has shown that we do this through reading and meditating on his Word. Unless you are very perceptive and fortunate, prayer is not enough. God reveals himself now primarily through the Bible, and instead of spending 3 minutes in prayer seeking God’s will, we might be better off spending one minute in prayer and several hours in his Word.
Prayer is important, but you will almost always get more from reading His entire word. Reading bits and pieces is like reading every third page of an instruction manual. You can’t get to know His complete will this way, only through reading all of His word can you get the big picture and know what His will is in any situation. He speaks into all of life’s situations in the Bible and you begin to develop the mind of God.
And a relationship doesn’t flourish if we are only with the person once in a blue moon, if we neglect the relationship. Getting to really know someone involves consistent, extensive exposure to that person, like in a marriage.
Abram is blessed, actually his blessing is restated, and it’s really the same blessing that the Father gave to Jesus, that all people would be his, that all the earth would be his. And all he asks is that Abram walks around and takes a look at all that is his.
Ever notice how Jesus seemed to always be walking, moving around the countryside after his ministry started. Opportunities didn’t just come to him all the time, he put himself where the opportunities were. What about Paul, he sure didn’t sit around much unless he was in prison. God’s people are not to sit around enjoying their salvation, we are to move around bringing the message of salvation everywhere we go.
So that is the main message, as it always is, that is the great commission, GO and make disciples of all nations. That of course requires movement, not necessarily to other countries or even other towns, but at least in your own neighborhood. At least 75% of the people in Killarney are not disciples yet. You don’t have to go far.
And the action plan for this week is this:
If you are dealing with a problem or decision in your life, ask these questions in your decision making: 1) What would please the Lord? 2) What effective solution would cause the least strife or conflict? 3) What decision/solution would please others? 4) What do you see if you look beneath the surface, or what appears to be the best solution?
This is the approach the leadership of this church is going to take.
What should motivate our decisions as Christians when there is a problem? Or anytime for that matter? God’s will, keeping the peace, and what will benefit others as much as myself.
