Take Your Choice


 "Finally Abram said to Lot, 'Let's not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all we are close relatives! 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 to the left, then I'll take the land to the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I'll go to the left.'" Genesis 13:8-9

A familiar conversation takes place each time my wife and I decide to go out for dinner. "I don't know. Where do you want to go? Wherever is fine. Where do you want to go?" Perhaps that sounds familiar to you? Eventually, we'll land the plane and all is well. However, there are times when we both have a very strong and a very different opinion about a decision that needs to be made. Things start to get a little dicey really quick. So, now what? Great question.

Abram and his nephew Lot found themselves in just such a predicament. Both of their herdsmen wanted the same fields for the animals. This reality led to fighting with each other. Not good. Not good at all. So, now what? Abram, the older one, was entitled to his preference. He didn't push his position. Instead, he chose humility. He gave deference to his younger nephew, Lot. Why would he do that? "We are close relatives!" he said. In Abram's mind, the relationship superseded the better pastureland and the expanding wealth it would potentially provide by ever expanding flocks.  

Too often, we trade relationships for that which in comparison is of far less value. Money, possessions and properties have decimated countless families. Pride and self-centeredness have shredded one marriage after another. In every organization where people have refused the path of humility, dysfunction and division have run rampant. The world we live in pushes us to demand our way. If anyone dare offer a different perspective, we must run them over. It's easy to lose sight of the example of Jesus, the Son of God, who knelt and washed feet even the feet of the one who would betray him. 

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