We have been looking at the Hebrew patriarch Abraham and the paradox that is his life, in our daily devotional. Today, we will continue with this theme from yesterday’s blog about Abraham taking Lot with him in spite of God’s specific instructions to him.
Why Did Abraham Take Lot With Him?
We could infer a few possible reasons from the background that the bible gives us about Abraham’s life. We could say that Abraham felt a familial responsibility to his nephew Lot because of Lot’s father’s death; or his own father Terah’s death, could also have made it difficult for him to leave Lot behind.
Like Abraham, false loyalty to man or a sense of obligation to a relationship can very easily be the trigger point for our disobedience to God. It could be a parent or child, husband or wife, or friends.
Everytime we elevate or prioritise any relationship above the instructions to us from God’s word, we stand the risk of coming short of His ideals for our lives.
Another key reason that might have influenced Abraham to disobey God, could be a particular challenge in his personal life. As the bible records pointedly in Genesis 11:30,
“But Sarai was barren; she had no children.”
Abraham would maybe have looked in the physical, and saw the diminishing possibility of himself and Sarah ever having the blessing of their own biological children; He could have reasoned that taking Lot with him was as good as it was ever going to get for them, as far as having an heir to succeed him was concerned.
Lot was Abraham’s Just-in-case strategy. He was Abraham’s “Plan B”.
Maybe he saw Lot as a sort of insurance policy to fall back on, in case God had overlooked the fact that Abraham was childless when God absentmindedly promised to bless all the families of the earth through him and his seed! Maybe God had forgotten how old himself and Sarah had become? Maybe God did not know how so “past it” their aged bodies had become? Abraham leant on his own understanding!
Abraham taking Lot with him, was a compromised response; an act of disobedience that compromised his destiny.
What is your “just in case” strategy? What is that crutch that you have leant on; that “bail out” option, that “Plan B” that you have kept in reserve, just in case God doesn’t deliver when or how you need Him to? What has been a compromised response to God’s instruction in your life?
Can you not see how this is causing you to live or walk in disobedience to God?
It could be a relationship that you are holding on to, that second job, or even that one job or business that is keeping you from doing what God had asked you to do. It could be the money that you are keeping aside and withholding from God’s instructed use.
God is asking you today, to let go and let HIM have His way. Let go and let God do it His way. Trust Him all the way and lean not on your own understanding.
He who promised is faithful and He will do as He promised to do.
You can’t hold on to Lot and still hold on to His promise. Lot will eventually bring strife into your life and keep you out of your inheritance.
Selah,
Pastor Wale Ola
LIFE APPLICATION
1. What is God saying to me in today’s message?
2. What was ministered to me in the bible verses that I read today?
3. What are the changes or adjustments I need to make in my life to align with the word of God?
4. What is my commitment to the word for today?
5. What practical steps can I take to benefit from the word I have read today?
PRAYER FOCUS Repent of any act of disobedience that the Holy Spirit will reveal
to you today.
What has been a compromised response to God’s instruction in your life?
Are there any “just – in case” crutches in your life that contradict God’s word to you? Ask God to reveal this to you, and for Him to give you the grace and faith to let them go and to let Him have His way.
As you commit yourself to full obedience to His word, ask Him to open your eyes to see the fulness of His plans for your life, and to cause you to walk in them.
Song for Today: Nothing I Hold on To – William Matthews
