Thought from today’s Bible reading from Genesis 12-15.
After Lot departed from Abram, he journeyed toward the valley of the Jordan and settled in Sodom (Genesis 13:11-12). When war broke out between the king of Sodom and his allies against Chedorlaomer and his allies, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were killed, their cities were looted, and Lot was among those taken captive (Genesis 14:10-12).
The report of this came to Abram. He immediately took action.
“When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan” (Genesis 14:14).
Lot’s capture which required his rescue was not something that could have been expected. But Abram was ready. He did not have to hire a mercenary force to pursue the army that took Lot. He had three hundred and eighteen men who were capable of fighting. He did not have to hastily train these men for battle. They were already trained.
The lesson for us to learn from Abram is that we should, as much as is possible, make preparations for the future. We can never be sure what tomorrow will hold (James 4:14), but we should strive to always be prepared to take care of our most basic responsibilities: providing for our own, helping those in need, serving the Lord, combatting sin and error, and teaching the gospel to others.
Use today to start making preparations for tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s reading: Genesis 16-18
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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