God’s promises promote generosity...

For the past few weeks, we have been looking at a section of a letter in our Bible called the book of Genesis. In this section we have seen how God’s promises, and how we respond to God and His promises, can powerfully impact our lives.

Today, I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week. After being removed from the nation of Egypt and discovering that God’s promises trump our plans, we see Abram, Sarai, and Lot back in the land of Canaan. However, a problem arises between them, as we see in Genesis 13:1:

So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him. Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold. He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land. So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. "Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left." Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere-- this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah-- like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.

And it is in this story that we discover that timeless truth that God’s promises promote generosity. Abram humbly and generously allowed Lot to choose where he wanted to settle. And just as Abram’s trust in God and the promises of God promoted an attitude of generosity toward Lot, as followers of Jesus, our trust in God’s promises should produce and promote generosity toward others.  And just as it was for Abram, our generosity toward others serves as a sign that we aligned with the heart of God and the Promises of God.

 

So what does the level of your generosity reveal about the level of trust that you have in God and the promises of God?