Good morning and happy Aloha Friday. I'm celebrating this Aloha Friday at a very special bed and breakfast...Nonny & Pop's bed and breakfast in beautiful, rural, quiet Combine, Texas. As I write there's the smell of bacon in the air and the back door is open to let in the cool country air. Oh, the goodness of being at home with family.
This morning as the day started I rose and spent some time in God's Word. You know its a good thing sometimes when habits take over. Good habits that is. Spending time with God every morning has become such a blessed ritual in my life it just comes natural now. I've done some studying on how long it effectually takes to create and reinforce a new daily habit. I've heard anywhere from 30-70 days, I would probably err on the longer side of those two figures, but I do know that it happens. You can build new habits and you can change your life in 70 days by instilling new and better habits that will move your life in a different direction. Hopefully a direction that brings you closer to God and His Word.
This morning we're in Genesis chapter14 and it's a curious chapter. We see the first war recorded in God's Word and guess who gets himself smack dab in the middle of it? Yep, Lot. The same Lot that is Abraham's nephew and the same Lot that took the best land and ran in yesterday's 5MC. Recall that Lot was Abraham's brother's son and after his brother died, apparently Abraham had made a pact to care for his nephew no matter what.
Well, the sin nature of man creates greed and greed creates covetousness and soon dissension stirs in the land. One king looks at another's land and says I want yours too. This same pattern has been going on for thousands of years and just pick up a newspaper today and you'll see the same thing all over the globe.
So Lot's choice of land takes him to Sodom and in the middle of the war, he gets captured. Abraham hears about it and he comes to the rescue. We're told in the last chapter that Abraham was a wealthy man with many head of livestock and much gold and silver and here we see an idea just how much. He assembles 318 of his men to go fight. Now think about this, if he had 318 men that could fight he probably had many more that couldn't fight. And then all of these men had wives and children too. So it's probably safe to say that Abraham probably had around 600 servants in his care. That's a lot of responsibility.
So Abraham assembles his men and through very clever battle tactics, subdues the armies, conquers them and rescues Lot. The interesting part of the story is here at the end. The temptation of Abraham.
According to the Code of Hammurabi of that day, any king that conquered another had a right to not only all of his possessions but also all of his servants. So in an effort to save his nephew Lot, Abraham found himself sitting in line to take all of the spoils of the entire kingdom of Sodom. And apparently this would be quite the haul. Gold, silver, food, household items, clothes, tents and more.
So here comes the ugly head of temptation. Now recall, Abraham was quite possibly one of the wealthiest men in the land at this time. But I have a question for you as the snare of temptation presents itself into our lives. And as you read the question, you have to be honest. Deadly honest.
How much is enough?
We live in a world today where there is no such thing as enough. If $5,000 is good then $10,000 is great. Or is it? If $10,000 is great than $20,000 is perfect. But as soon as we become accustomed to thinking of $20,000 we start dreaming of $50,000. You see in our endless pursuit of more, we lose sight of what is enough.
I heard a quote the the other day and it fits perfectly here.
"Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money for you to be happy then your search for happiness will never end." Bob Marley
I've heard it said that we are all born with a hole in our heart. That hole is made in a perfect shape. We try everything in this world to fill in that hole. Money, cars, houses, toys, trips, clothes, education, careers, family, power, sex, and on and on. But there is only one thing that can perfectly fill that hole in your heart....God. God builds us with a need for Him and only He can fill the void in our lives.
Abraham knew this. He had enough, more is not better. More is just more. Abraham resists the snare and refuses to claim the spoils of war that were rightly his. He was able to see that God's provision in his life was enough and even having the choice to add more was not the right choice.
What a powerful message for us today. How much is enough? Do you have enough today? Do you feel like God has not given you enough? Do you feel like you need more from God?
Another one of my favorite sayings is that "God knows exactly how much it will take to ruin you and He gives you just a little less." God has given you enough today, recognize it, live in contentment and thank God for what he has given you, it is all a gift.
Blessings for your journey and stand strong in the snare of temptation.
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