Abram
January 19
Genesis 14:8-23
The winner takes nothing
Lot went to settle in the valley near the city of Sodom where wicked people lived.
One day, the king of Sodom joined kings from other cities to fight against an enemy. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah lost the battle, and the enemy took Lot with all his possessions. One of the men escaped and went to tell Abram what had happened. When Abram heard about Lot, he took his men to fight the enemy and defeated them.
After Abram got back, the king of Sodom together with Melchizedek, who was a king and a priest, brought Abram gifts. Melchizedek blessed Abram and praised God for their victory.
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of the loot he had brought back. He also gave back all the belongings that the enemy had taken from the king of Sodom.
Should I give back something I have found or rescued?
Have you ever found something valuable? Have you ever climbed high up to get someone’s tangled kite out of a tree, or reached down in to a gutter to rescue a little kitten? Because of your daring mission you may feel that you deserve to keep what you found.
Abram had risked his life and the life of his men to rescue Lot and bring back the people and possessions of Sodom. Abram had every right to keep all the goods, and in fact, the king of Sodom said he could keep the loot, as long as he got his people back.
However, Abram felt that it was not right to keep the things he had brought back because they weren’t his in the first place. Abram set a good example for us to follow.
Verse for today
If you see your brother's ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to him. Deuteronomy 22:1
