“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you; and I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the people which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; so they came to the land of Canaan.” (Genesis 12:1-5 NASB)
When Abram left his country to the land God would show him, he went out not knowing where he was going. God said he would show him and that was good enough for Abram. Sound like walking by faith and not by sight, doesn’t it?
Abram would be blessed in many ways. Now as you just read above, Lot went with him. Think what you want, but I think Lot should have been left behind. You can disagree if you choose, but I base it on two things: (1) Abram was to go from his country, and from his relatives. Lot was his nephew, a relative. (2) More significant than the first reason, I think Lot should have been left behind because of his character. Yes, perhaps I have an advantage of looking at things in retrospect, for I read in Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, “Lot’s character is revealed by the major decision he made throughout life.” An example of a bad decision that you are probably aware of is when Lot chose to pitch his tent with the worldly Sodomites, seeking riches and a life of ease rather than an ever so much better path, one dictated by the Creator of the world.
I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this meditation talking about Lot. Even though I am departing from the Monday Short format today, I would rather talk abouts a lot of things that believers have to leave behind on this Christian journey. Why? Because some things we don’t leave behind, things that should have been left behind, can cause problems.
If you have are traveling around with some of the same stuff that was present in your life before you came to know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and you know that mess would not meet the Master’s approval, leave it behind.
If you are still carrying around a grudge, stop today and – leave it behind! If you are carrying around a bad habit and you are trying to recover on your own, trying to figure it out by yourself, rather than letting the Lord work it out with you, regarding what you are doing – leave it behind!
If you are carrying around a burden, as opposed to casting it on the Lord, knowing He will sustain you – start casting it on the Lord and – leave it behind! If you are carrying around despondency and depression – grab hold of joy in the Lord, and as far as any downcast feeling – leave it behind!
If you have not heeded the warning in Psalm One and you still have a practice of walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing in the path of sinners, and sitting in the seat of scoffers, stop that behavior that is exactly opposite of what the word says, regarding the continuing practice – leave it behind!
If you have a tendency to lean on your own understanding, as opposed to trusting in the Lord in all your ways and allowing Him to direct your path, get rid of the tendency! Yes – leave it behind!
This was not a Monday Short meditation at all, but that’s okay. I suppose that the Lord wants us to identify our figurative “Lot” and encourage us to– leave it behind! Things will go better when we do! Have a great start to the work week, which is really an improper term since you are working on the battlefield for the Lord every single day, so let me just say, “Have a great day!” I’ll make up for the Monday Short tomorrow! Be blessed!
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King