March 29, 2021 — Getting God’s Leftovers

Do the ruthless, money-grubbing misers end up with everything? Not so, says Jesus: “The meek shall inherit the earth.”

Abram chose to live out the principle found in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” He said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me…for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left” (Gen 13:8). Constant irritations had resulted from the ill-gotten prosperity that Lot and his uncle had acquired in Egypt. They call money hard currency, perhaps because it’s hard to get, hard to manage, hard to worry about, and hard to lose. So Abram, although the senior of the two, and the man whom God called to inherit Canaan, seemed to give Lot first choice. What he was really doing was entrusting the whole thing into God’s hands. So Lot looked east, and picked the well-watered plain of Jordan, pitching his tent just outside of Sodom. God’s Spirit adds this aside: “But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord” (v 13). Location. Location. Location. Bill MacDonald used to say, “If it’s true, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do,’ don’t go to Rome!” But what about Abram? He was willing to take God’s leftovers: “And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever’” (vv 14-15). God was saying, If I’m yours, it’s all yours, because it’s all Mine! Listen to these lines from The Weaver (a poem of uncertain authorship): “He knows, He loves, He cares; / Nothing this truth can dim. / He gives the very best to those / Who leave the choice to Him.” Yes, God is worth trusting!