Have you ever taken on the responsibility or care of something that you should have left alone or behind? Have you ever taken something along with you that was never meant to be with you, something that holds you back from your overall destination? I love the way God gives me new insight into the story of Abram and Lot. So many of us have extra baggage, whether things or people, that God wants us to let go of so that He can bless us further.
In Genesis 11:27 Lot’s father (Haran) died before his grandfather (Terah), and then in v. 32 his grandfather dies. Now the only one left in the area was Abram, so maybe Abram felt responsible for Lot, to be his mentor or father figure, and when he left his home to follow the instruction of the LORD, he took Lot with him. Genesis 12:6-7 as Abram went to Sichem the LORD gave him a glimpse of the promise that would later come. Notice, God did not give him full revelation concerning the land, maybe Abram was not ready or maybe the LORD solely wanted to bless Abram, I’ll explain further.
In Genesis 13:2 we see the “Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.” V.5 shows how Lot benefited from his connection to Abram. Many people will benefit from your overflow, from your abundance. John 10:10 “the thief comes not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that [you] might have life, and that [you] might have it more abundantly.” God’s desire is for us to live in abundance. The Blessing upon Abram overflowed to those connected to him. God has placed a blessing on you and it will overflow to those connected to you, but the big question is should they be connected to you or do you need to let them go? We must quantify our relationships. Not everybody needs to be in our lives or our closest friend. Lot benefited so much from being in Abram’s presence that “the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together; for their substance was great: so they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle.“ (Genesis 13:6-7). It got to the point where the men of Abram and Lot could not get along. Abram realized that he had to separate from Lot. v. 8-12 shows that in order to avoid strife, Abram allowed Lot to choose the best land as his own. This is another lesson entirely, but Abram was such an unselfish man that he was willing to take the worst land in order to avoid strife with his brethren. Let’s note also, if Abram has left lot this strife would have been avoided.
As soon as Abram separated himself from Lot the Lord said to Abram “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you. So Abram moved his camp to Hebron and settled near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. There he built another altar to the LORD.” (Genesis 13:14-18). It is amazing that when Abram separated himself from the baggage, the LORD gave him a deeper revelation and a promise of things to come. The LORD may be waiting for you to cut off some things from your life that are holding you back and weighing you down. Everybody does not need to go where you are going and not everybody needs to go into your next level with you because they will only keep you from receiving a deeper revelation and promise that the LORD has for you. Who do you need to cut off, who do you need to let go of so that you can grow and soar? The LORD has blessed you and everybody cannot handle your overflow. God is waiting to take you higher to another level, will you let Him?
God Bless,
Marcus
The Butlers' Corner 