Which do you prefer...

Genesis 13:1 - 14:23


Genesis 13 picks up with Abram and Lot still traveling together. By this time both of them have accumulated much wealth, livestock, and possessions. But the land could not support them while they were together. Arguing broke out between Abram's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen. Abram came to Lot and said, "Let's not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers." At this point Abram suggested that they part ways. He told Lot to choose the direction that he wanted to go and he (Abram) would go the other.

Lot looked and saw that the plain of the Jordan was lush and beautiful, it was like the garden of the Lord. He chose to go to the plain of the Jordan and departed toward the east. At this, they parted company. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot in the cities of the plain, near Sodom, which was known to be a place where the men were wicked and sinning greatly against the Lord.


Here is something of special note:

Abram, a man of great wisdom and faith gave his nephew, Lot, the first choice of which direction he would go and in what land he would settle.

Lot looked and saw the rich and lush fields, the beauty to the east. He saw the potential for a good life... on the doorsteps of sin and immorality.

What I see here is a total difference in HEART. Lot looked through the eyes of greed, seeking to have the best. He saw beautiful lands, lush fields, the ability to support his people and their livestock. He saw a rich and prosperous life! (Never mind the fact that sin would be on his doorsteps.) While Abram was operating from the heart of a peacemaker, giving Lot the first choice, the ability to choose the best, the most desireable land. In doing this Abram trusted God for His provision, his future and his blessings. He did not demand first choice to acquire what, "from the appearance", seemed to be the best of the best (which, by all rights, he could have done as the elder of the two). Instead, he totally trusted God for his provision and his future!

God rewarded Abram's pure heart with blessings. The blessings were not blessings of wealth, like an inheritance to be passed on to his children and children's children. God rewared Abram by blessing him with a legacy. A legacy continues to live on after you die. It is passed on TO and THROUGH future generations.

An inheritance will be spent and then it is gone... forever.
A legacy lives on and never dies!

Genesis 13:14-18
The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, "Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you."


Which do you prefer... an inheritance, or a legacy?


There is one more thing that I would like to say this evening...
If you choose to live on the doorsteps of sin, don't be surprised if you captured by the enemy, are carried away, and God has to chase after you to deliver you from the grasp of your captors. (see Chapter 14)