genesis 13 :: abram and lot part ways

let me start by saying that everybody should set up an andy mckee station on pandora to listen to while doing -any- reading. it a great focusing agent for me, and also, andy is a genius.

in genesis 13, lot and abram finally get to the point where they cannot keep their familes and gruops and herds and flocks and sliverware in the same place. there’s no elbow room, and their herdsmen are constantly fighting and bickering over patches of grass and water sources. okay they probably still had room for whatever eating utensils they may or may not have used back then, but they still were snug.

so abram, out of generosity, ofers for his nephew lot to make the choice as to what land he desired most. sometimes we give people options for things hoping that htey will be polite, and give us first choice, or that they will offer to give us the best, since we were so kind to offer to begin with. but abram’s offer to lot doesn’t seem to come off that way. it appears that abram is offering this land to lot simply out of the goodness of his heart. and that is a challenge that we can all stand up for. how often can we say that we have had a truly generous heart. knowing that we may deprive ourselves in order to help someone else out, or just to enjoy the fact that they will get what they want. looking to the needs of others first, rather than looking to our own needs.

that is a heart worth having…