How’s that for a legacy?

I don’t know about your elementary school, but at mine, everything was done by getting in a line–get in line to go to the bathroom, get in line to go to lunch, get in line to go to recess, get in line to get on the bus.  And oh the joy of being first in line!  Looking back, I’m not sure that being first really accomplished a whole lot, but it was still the position coveted by all.

As an adult, I’m not much different.  Josh and I like to go to a college basketball tournament in Anaheim over Thanksgiving.  And we typically make a great effort to be first in line for when the doors open so we can be first to get the seats we want.  Do we really see the game that much better by being first?  Probably not.  But there is something within me that wants to be first.

In Genesis 13:9, Abraham does the opposite.  He is about to part ways with his nephew Lot, but rather than play the “uncle card” and insist on going first, Abraham says,

“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.” (Genesis 13:9, ESV)

“Lot, you choose first.  I’ll choose second.”

Here’s the point:  Abraham trusted in God’s ability to give more than in his own ability to grab.  When we insist on being first it is often because we don’t trust God to be good.  So, we feel we have to take matters into our own hands. But in this instance Abraham demonstrated amazing trust.  Lot could go first, and God would be good.  As Jesus promises in Matthew 20:16,  “So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Question for today:  Where do you need to trust in God’s ability to give more than in your own ability to grab?