Today’s Passages – Genesis 13 – 16 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Matthew 9 – 10; Proverbs 5; Psalms 21 – 25)
Read the “0105 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read previous posts from today’s passage – “Balanced and Biblical Separation;” “Relationships are More Important than Riches;” “Gardens and Green Grass or God’s Will?”
“And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.” (Genesis 14:14)
“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24)
Abraham demonstrated that he was a good friend to a man who in the past was not so friendly to Abraham. Back in Genesis 13:8 – 11 , Abraham’s nephew Lot decided that he no longer wanted to live in the same place that Abraham dwelt in. He said that there just wasn’t enough grazing grass for the both of them and their large herds. He wanted to move away from the man that had taken him in and took care of him after his dad died (See Genesis 11:27 – 28). Abraham was very gracious to Lot and allowed him to make the first choice about where he wanted to be, and Abraham agreed to settle away from whatever area that Lot chose. Lot’s choice was the “well watered” plain of the Jordan Valley.
Time moves on as it always does, and Lot eventually ends up living near and then inside of the very wicked city of Sodom. When Sodom and four other cities are conquered and taken captive by a confederation of four kings, Lot and his family are taken into captivity with them. Abraham could have forgotten about Lot and left him in the hands of the Canaanites, but Abraham was a good friend to Lot, and came to his rescue. A good friend will help even when the person they are helping has not been very friendly. Abraham will later come to Lot’s rescue again by interceding for him to God (see Genesis 18:23 – 33) when God was about to destroy cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, including all the people living in them. God spares Lot and some of his family by removing them from the city before the destruction came (See Genesis 19).
Uncle Abraham was not a “fair weather friend” to Lot. He made a choice to be a friend to him, and he continued acting as his friend even when his kindness was not being reciprocated. People may not always be friendly, kind, and loving to us; but we can choose to be a friend to them regardless. Christ acted as our friend by dying for us when we were not deserving, and He still is our friend today. Let’s take the spiritual high road in our friendships. Let’s choose to be good to people, to be friendly towards them, even when they are not being very kind to us.
One more thought. While we should always choose to be friendly to all people, we should also be careful who we allow to be good friends to us. If we let the wrong people get close to us and influence us, it could pull us out of the will of God. Remember, “Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab” (2 Samuel 13:3), but Jonadab wasn’t a very good friend. Amnon should have been a little wiser in who he chose for his friend, it would have saved him a lot of heartache, and in the long run it would have saved his life.
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