I continued on in Genesis this morning. I think the Spirit is keeping me here, moving through God’s story. This one comes from the next chapter, and it’s found in Abram’s nephew, Lot.

In Genesis 13, Abram shows remarkable faith and humility. Though he was the elder and the one to whom God made the promise, he gives his nephew Lot the first choice of land. You see, both Abram and Lot had grown to accumulate so much they could no longer live together and their herdsmen weren’t getting along. They needed to separate. Abram says to Lot, “The whole countryside is open to you.Take your choice of any section of the land you want and we will separate. If you want the land of the left, then I’ll take the land of the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.” (Genesis 13:9)

Lot’s response is telling: he lifts up his eyes and sees the fertile plain of the Jordan – lush, green, and full of promise. It looks like Eden. It looks like Egypt. It looks like success.

So he takes it. All of it.

But Scripture quietly adds a chilling detail: “This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord” (Genesis: 13:10b, 13).

Lot chose what looked good, what seemed best on the surface, without considering the spiritual cost. He was surrounded by evil, and over time, it compromised his family and his future. (If you don’t know the story, read it in Genesis 19 or just wait a few days. I think I’ll get there.) What started as a strategic move for prosperity ended in loss, fear, and destruction.

When times are tough, our character is tested. But it’s often in the easier times, when options abound, that the truth of our hearts is revealed. Lot had seen God bless Abram’s faith and generosity. He had even benefited from it, but when it came time to choose for himself, he chose selfishly.

Greed doesn’t just show up in famine; it follows us into abundance. And so does trust. If we cling to control when we feel we’re lacking, we’ll still cling to control when we have more than enough. But if we learn to trust God in lean seasons, we’ll find it easier to trust Him when the fields are full.

Abram gave up what looked best and trusted God to provide. And God did. In the very next verses. The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” Genesis 13:14-17

God reaffirms His promise and shows Abram that everything would one day belong to him, not just the lush valley, but the land as far as he could see.

I wonder if Lot knew the evil in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he chose the land? It seems he did not. I found the Holy Spirit asking me this morning if I was in Lot’s situation and did not know the evil of those cities, would I have chosen that lush land, too? Would you?…over sharing a portion of it with the uncle who had done so much to provide for and help you along the way?

Then I started to wonder….Do I make decisions based only on what looks good rather than what is godly? Do I let others go first, trusting that God will take care of me? How is greed (or maybe today we have more “fear of missing out”) shaping our choices?

Oh…by the way, at the end of chapter 13, Abram built another altar to the Lord.