Men in the Bible: A Large-Hearted and Accommodating Man
So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had… Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. – Genesis 12:20, 13:1-2
Another lesson we can learn from Abraham’s lifestyle was his large-heartedness. He was not only large-hearted but also very accommodating.
Abraham left Egypt a rich man, as he had been lavished with wealth by Pharaoh, who wanted to marry Abraham’s supposed sister, Sarah. However, when the truth was revealed about Sarah’s identity and Abraham and his family were sent packing out of Egypt, all their acquisitions were also dispatched along with them; nothing was taken from them. This made Abraham leave Egypt a wealthy man. Pharaoh at that time was the most powerful man on earth, presiding over a vast spread of kingdom and vast resources. So, you can imagine the kind of assets he must have endowed Abraham with to marry his “sister”.
Meanwhile, even with his newfound wealth, one thing remained constant about Abraham: his accommodating nature. This was reflected in his allowing his young nephew, Lot, to tag along with him at every part of his journey. Some men with lesser fiber would have ditched Lot in Haran and headed for Canaan without him. After all, it was not he, Abraham, that brought Lot from Ur in the first place. It was his late father, Terah. And having brought him to Canaan, Abraham could have justifiably left Lot there before heading to Egypt during the famine. But he still took him along.
After departing Egypt, however, considering the acrimonious way he and his family left the land of opportunity, after Pharaoh’s discovery that Sarah was not Abraham’s sister but his wife. Abraham, still smarting from the reprimand of Pharaoh, might have done little wrong by parting ways with Lot afterwards. But this was not the case. He still took him along. Wherever he went, he took his young relative along and did not resent his tagging along or attempt to ditch him at any point, as some would have done.
Even when Lot started to become rich through association with him, Abraham did not mind. He must have given him enough assets to start him off on his own to the point that Lot himself can be described as a wealthy man, all from the resources he got either directly from his uncle Abraham or by virtue of his association with him. Yet, there was no record that Abraham resented Lot in any way or rubbed it in that he was the one who made him, as some in his shoes would have relentlessly done. He remained his largehearted and accommodating self throughout their relationship. He was not a me-and-my-family-alone man.
We can all learn from that.
Selah!
Also read:
- Men in the Bible: Abraham and White Lies (1)
- The Benefits of Wisdom: Happiness
- The Chalk
- Father, Give Me My Share of the Estate
- Strayed from God, but Back in His Arms
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