Blessing Comes From Good Management

 

            Blessing Comes From Good Management

You have probably read in the Bible, or heard it said,

“He who is faithful in little

I will give him much”

Abram is a great example of this truth.

You can’t get blessing

and you can’t keep it, without

Faithfulness

God does His part when we do ours!

 

  

Abram was a very responsible and caring man.

God had said He would bless him.

But which came first,

the blessing

or responsibility?

Abram’s father cared for Lot.

Abram took on the responsibility

of caring for his nephew, Lot

when his father, Terah died.

Abram was a good manager.

He had sheep and other live stock

and people to care for the business.

We see that Lot’s ranching skills,

he had learned from his Uncle Abram,

had paid off very well.

God had used the work of these two men

to bless them and bring prosperity.

God’s increase in their lives

had caused a problem.

When Lot’s workers

and Abram’s workers

couldn’t get along,

Abram’s character shined.

Complaining is like a contagious disease,

it spreads as fast in the work place

as a cold does in a nursery school.

But Abram’s character kept him immune.

Instead of complaining,

he looked for a solution.

The solution showed Abram’s security

and ability to consider others

better than himself.

Philippians 2:2-4 NIV

 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,

but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Each of you should look not only to your own interests,

but also to the interests of others.”

Abram’s blessing didn’t come

from believing God would give him

the winning numbers to the lottery.

Abram’s blessing came by believing

that God would bless his faithfulness.

Abram knew that if he faithfully used the resources

God had given him, he would prosper.

This became clear when he was willing

to give Lot the first choice.

As we will see,

Abram prospered with the leftovers.

If we look for prosperity,

we will probably miss it!

But if we rely on God’s Word

and use the tools and resources

He has given us

we are sure to be blessed!

Scripture Reading

Genesis 13 NIV

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev,

with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him.

2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel,

to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier

4 and where he had first built an altar.

There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together,

for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together.

7 And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot.

The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

8 So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me,

or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers.

9 Is not the whole land before you?  

Let's part company.

If you go to the left, I'll go to the right;

 if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."

10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered,

like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar.

 (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east.

The two men parted company:

12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan,

while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.

13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

14 The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him,

"Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west.

15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.

16 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.

17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land,

for I am giving it to you."

18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.