Read: Genesis 13
THEME: There are some incidents in Abraham’s life that are hard to explain unless we see how God’s grace towards us can make us gracious towards others.
Abram had set out for a land that God had promised to show him and had graciously taken his orphaned nephew Lot with him. God had made no specific promises to Lot but, through Abram’s generosity, Lot had ended up with flocks and herds of his own. When tensions occurred over grazing rights, Abram thought it appropriate for Lot to have his own land.
Abram could have allocated some lesser territory but in his graciousness, as he and Lot stood on a hilltop surveying a vast panorama, he allowed Lot to choose whatever he perceived to be the best.
Abram accepted Lot’s choice without a hint of complaint and, once they had separated, God said, “lift up your eyes and see – all that is to the north, south, east and west I give to you and to your descendants”.
The God whose promise had sustained Abram in his journey and inspired his earlier generosity, was once again showing him the grace that was making him gracious.
Graciousness may at times appear costly but we have a God who is infinitely gracious and it is His grace that inspires and liberates us.
May we today respond to the grace of God in our own lives in a way that makes us gracious.