Genesis 13:1

Genesis 13;1 says, And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.  Abram left Egypt.  He had not distinguished himself as a man who trusted God while he was there.  Verse two states, And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.  Even though Abram had failed Sarai and God, God was still at work fulfilling His promise to Abram.  Even if we occasionally fail to obey God, if we have truly accepted Christ as our Savior and Lord, God will never forget His promise to us.  Verse three adds, And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;  Abram went back to where he had first settled.  During the famine nor after, Abram never went back to his homeland.  When we accept Christ, we should never want to go back to where we were before spiritually.  Verse four says, Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.  Abram went back to the altar and called on God.  We do not find any evidence that Abram called on God when he made his plans in Egypt.  When we have strayed away from God, we need to go back to the altar and call on Him again.  I don't believe that the altar is necessarily a physically place, but it is a spiritual place where we meet God.  Verse five states, And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.  Lot was also prospering.  Verse six states, And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.   God had allowed both Abram and Lot to prosper so much that the land could not contain them.  I still do not believe that God intended for Abram to bring Lot along, since Lot was not a part of God's promise to Abram.  I do know that we should be careful to do exactly what calls us to do, and if we don't then we can expect problems.  Verse seven declares, And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.  Trouble arose between the herdmen of Abram and Lot.  Sometimes, being richly blessed can cause problems.  Verse eight adds, And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.  Abram took the initiative to solve the problem.  We, as followers of Christ, should always take the initiative to attempt to resolve problems between others and us.  This is especially true of problems with fellow Christians.  In verse nine Abram asks, Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.  After asking Lot if there were not plenty of land, he then gave Lot his choice of the land.  We must remember that God's promise was to Abram and not to Lot.  Even if we give others first choice in material matters, it does not change God's promise to us.  Verse ten states, And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.  Lot saw what looked like the perfect land.  Things of this world may look perfect to us, but if we are following our own sight and not God's will, then they will never be.  Verse eleven declares, Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.  Lot chose what looked like the best land for himself.  As Abram's nephew who was along at Abram's invitation, we would have thought that he would have told Abram to choose, but he didn't.  People today too often are still too selfish in their dealings with others.