Abraham... Faithfulness and Integrity

Yesterday we took a look at Genesis chapter 14 where we find Lot in a precarious situation. After making a poor decision to put his family in harms way on the doorstep of Sodom in Chapter 13, Lot and his entire household are captured by King Chedorlaomer (say that fast three times) during his sacking of Sodom.

Now, many might say that Lot had this coming to him since he had put himself in the situation by his own poor decision. In fact, I wonder if I might say the same thing if I saw someone in a "Lot situation" today. This guy had acted selfishly and knowingly led his family away from God's plan with Abraham to his own desire for what he saw as easy living.

Thankfully for Lot, we see in Chapter 14, that Abram is a man of faithfulness and integrity when it comes to his family and friends. He quickly pulls together 318 trained men from his household and rides to the rescue of Lot. It's importanat to notice here that Abram was prepared for the battle in advance. The scripture says his men were already trained for battle. I wonder how prepared we are for the spiritual battles we will all face? How faithful are we in prepping ourselves by putting on the full armor of God? Are we, like Abram, ready to ride to the rescue of a sister or brother who is on the losing end of a spiritual fight or are we spending our time shaking our heads at their failure?

Abram goes on to an amazing victory against an army with an assumed vast numerical advantage. (Now, I mispoke last night, Abram did have allies but they were made up of those already defeated by King Chedorlaomer's forces.) Abram devises a plan that not only gets Lot and his family back but also gets all of the loot that was stolen away from Sodom.

Upon his return, he is greeted by two kings. The first we all know by the name Melchizedek. Without retelling this part of the story, we see in this meeting God providing Abram with a reminder of who he is as the provider of his blessed life. The second, the king of Sodom, provided him with our greatest tandem temptation; wealth and recognition. Given his earlier reminder, Abram quickly rejects this offer so that no one could claim his blessing was from anyone other than God. In this interaction with the two kings, Abram is seen as a man of integrity who is faithful in his worship and with his wealth.

As we finish up this week's look at the life of Abram, I wonder how our lives measure up in the areas of faithfullness and integrity. Are we men and women who live our lives in a way that is actively faithful to God? Are we preparing ourselves for the storms and battles that will inevitably come? Do we live our lives with integrity in the areas of worship and wealth? I pray today that my walk will continue to mature so that I can live this kind of life for God. How about you?

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Don't forget to invite someone to class next week as we take a look at the Abrahamic covenent. This is one of the most important events in the Old testament. You won't want to miss this one as a very qualified expert on the subject, Skip Jenkins, leads this class. See you there.