For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. [1]
People of faith claim what God’s eyes can see!
Genesis 13:8-18 NRSV
Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herders and my herders; for we are kindred. Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
Lot looked about him, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar; this was before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So, Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward; thus, they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Raise your eyes now, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” So, Abram moved his tent, and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the Lord.
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
“Then Lot chose him all the plain”—a choice excellent from a worldly point of view, but most inexpedient for his best interests. He seems, though a good man, to have been too much under the influence of a selfish and covetous spirit: and how many, alas! imperil the good of their souls for the prospect of worldly advantage.[2]
Warren Wiersbe
While Lot was getting farther from the Lord, Abraham was drawing closer! Lot was becoming a friend of the world; Abraham was becoming the friend of God. God told Abraham to lift up his eyes (v. 14–15) and behold the entire land. The people of the world claim what their eyes can see, while the people of faith claim what God’s eyes can see! Lot took a part of the land, but Abraham was given all of the land. God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him. God promised to bless Abraham’s seed, but Lot’s family was either destroyed in Sodom or defiled in the cave (Genesis 19:12–38). Verse 17 makes it clear that the believer must step out on God’s promises and claim them by faith. Lot had lost his altar and would soon lose his tent (19:30), but Abraham still had his tent and altar. It pays to walk by faith and trust the Word of God! [3]
Matthew Henry
Those are best prepared for the visits of Divine grace, whose spirits are calm, and not ruffled with passion. God will abundantly make up in spiritual peace, what we lose for preserving neighbourly peace. When our relations are separated from us, yet God is not. Observe also the promises with which God now comforted and enriched Abram. Of two things he assures him; a good land, and a numerous issue to enjoy it. The prospects seen by faith are more rich and beautiful than those we see around us. God bade him walk through the land, not to think of fixing in it, but expect to be always unsettled, and walking through it to a better Canaan. He built an altar, in token of his thankfulness to God. When God meets us with gracious promises, he expects that we should attend him with humble praises. In outward difficulties, it is very profitable for the true believer to mediate on the glorious inheritance which the Lord has for him at the last. [4]
The Gospel Way Catechism
Question #18
What form does our sin take against one another?
We use each other, treating people like things, and things like people. We love ourselves more than our neighbors, diminishing them through dishonor and injury, lust and exploitation, falsehood and envy.[5]
Question #50
What does it mean to live in light of the end?
We walk by faith, not in secular progress and technological advance, but in the promise of God to reclaim this world and make everything right. With hope, we await the return of the King we love.[6]
O God, the protector of all those who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy, that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not the things eternal; grant this, heavenly Father, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.[7]
The God of Abraham Praise
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.[8]
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ps 33:4–5.
[2] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 24.
[3] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Ge 13:8–18.
[4] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ge 13:14.
[5] Trevin Wax and Thomas West. The Gospel Way Catechism, 2025, p. 72.
[6] Trevin Wax and Thomas West. The Gospel Way Catechism, 2025, p. 177.
[7] Collect Proper 4, Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, p. 616.
[8] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ps 50:14–15.
