Gen. xiii. 8 — 11. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee ? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right ; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every ichere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as thou contest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan.
WEALTH is almost universally considered as a source of happiness, and in that view is most eagerly desired. That it may conduce to our happiness in some respects, especially when it is improved for the relief of our fellow-creatures, we admit: but it is much
oftener a source of trouble and vexation than of satisfaction and comfort. " If goods increase, (says Solomon,) they are increased that eat thema." A multitude of servants augments our care. Their disagreements among themselves, or disputes with the servants of others, frequently become an occasion of disquietude to ourselves. The envy also and jealousy that are excited in the breasts of others, operate yet further to the disturbance of our peace. In how many families have contentions arisen from this source! How many who have spent years together in love and harmony, have been distracted by feuds and animosities as soon as ever they were called to share the property that has been bequeathed them ! Even piety itself cannot always prevent that discord, which the pride or covetousness of others is forward to excite. Abram and Lot had lived together in per- fect amity, while their circumstances were such as to preclude any jarring of interests; but when their opulence increased, occasions of jealousy arose ; their servants, espousing too warmly their respective inte- rests, quarrelled among themselves ; and it became expedient at last, on account of the difficulty of finding pasturage for such numerous flocks and herds, and for the sake of preventing more serious disputes, that a separation should take place between them. The manner in which this separation was effected will afford us much instruction, while we consider,
I. The proposal of Abram —
His conduct on this occasion was indeed such as became his exalted character. It was,
I. Conciliatory —
[Abram well knew the value and blessedness of peace. He knew that " the beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water ;" the breach, however small at first, being quickly widened by the stream that rushes through it, and speedily defying all the efforts of man to prevent an inundation. He had learned that valuable lesson, " To leave off contention before it be meddled \vithb;" knowing that when it is once
a Eccl. v. 11. b Prov. xvii. 14.