Aug. 27

Read Genesis 13

^14-17 After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, "Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I'll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I'm giving it all to you." (The Message)

Abram and Lot parted ways because their flocks and herds had gotten to large to share the same fields. Abram knew that something had to change and he offered Lot the choice of which way to go. Lot choose the easier looking area and Abram turned to go into the hills where he and his flocks and herds would have to work harder to find food and water. It had to be a great surprise then that God comes to Abram and says to him, "Open your eyes Abram! Everything you see will be yours and your descendent's after you." It turns out that what had seemed hard and out of the way actually was a part of the promise that God had made to Abram. It was Abram that flourished and Lot who seemed to have the easier way that would end up suffering.
Abram doesn't see the promise that is in front of him and God has to say, "OPEN YOUR EYES!" It seems that we should know better by now but God still has to say to us, "Open Your Eyes!" Jesus says that he has come so that we can have life and life in its fullest. If we believe that promise then we should open our eyes to see what it is that is already in our lives that we are missing. There is a saying that has been around forever, "The only place God can bless you is where you are." Instead of waiting for the blessings to come later on, over there, after that, or wherever it might be, maybe it is time to open our eyes and see the blessings that God has placed right in the middle of our lives.

Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:

• When you were growing up what did you think would be the moment when you were an adult?
• Have you ever had to take the more difficult path and found that it was actually the best for you later on? What did you learn along the way?
• If God stopped you today and told you to open your eyes to your blessings what would you see?
• Make time today to share with someone else the blessings that God has placed in front of you.