The AMI QT Devotionals from October 16-22 are provided by Pastor Shan Gian, who serves as the Fenway site pastor of Symphony Church in Boston. Shan, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania and Gordon Conwell Seminary (M.Div.), is married to Jenny; and they are the proud parents of their first baby Tyler.
Devotional Thoughts for Today
“To the victor goes the…”
Genesis 14:21-24
And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.”22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”
In Genesis 14, Abram proved himself to be a hero. He learned that his nephew Lot had been kidnapped by the armies of an alliance of kings, so he gathered a relatively small force of men, pursued his enemies and defeated them, thus rescuing his nephew and saving the day. Abram was a hero. But it didn’t even end there. Not only did he achieve this great military victory, Abram also proved himself to be pious by tithing and giving a tenth of all of the plunder and spoils his small army had amassed. Abram had had a good day; he had accomplished so much.
When the king of Sodom says to Abram that he can “take the goods for yourself,” he’s basically saying “to the victor go the spoils,” that since Abram won, he gets to reap all of the benefits. Abram, though, does something that I’m sure would have been surprising to the king of Sodom and anyone else who was there; he refuses to take any of it.
If you think about it, there would have been nothing really wrong about taking all of the goods—Abram had earned it and he had every right to it because of his accomplishments. But Abram willingly surrendered his right to the spoils of war, because he knew this victory was not about him but about the glory of God.
In our society, it feels like everything is about our rights, what we deserve, what we have earned. We feel like we have the right to do whatever we want because we have worked hard. We feel entitled to having nice things because of our achievements. And we even think we deserve a break because of the good Christian things we have already done. In the example of Abram, though, we see someone who doesn’t seek the accolades or the benefits of his achievements, because he did not want anyone to think that his wealth or success was about anyone other than the God Most High. If he had taken the plunder, he or others could have thought that his success in life was about Abram’s abilities or another king’s generosity—and for him, that would compromise the glory due to God.
In a culture that is always craving recognition or glory, we must vigilantly seek to give no one else glory besides God Himself. We can be tempted or deluded to think that we are where we are because of what we have done, but like Abram, let us decide to surrender our rights to recognition and glory in order to give God glory, for He is the one who has made us rich and blessed us with His presence and glory.
Prayer: Jesus, to You be all glory and honor and praise. I pray that my life will be a reflection not of my own successes or victories, but of Your ultimate victory on the cross. On your Lord’s day, may You be glorified in my life. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Acts 14
Hall of Fame basketball coach Pat Riley talked about what he called “the disease of more.” He proposed that “success is often the first step towards disaster,” because once people ( a sports team especially) have experienced success, they start thinking selfishly and catching the disease of more—wanting more money, more playing time, more benefits, more recognition, etc. This is why sports dynasties are hard to come by because teams can so easily be infected by the disease of more and start clamoring for more.
I have always enjoyed movies where the good guys are few in number and facing impossible odds, with large and intimidating forces coming to destroy them. It’s inspiring to see how brave, resourceful, and cunning the underdogs are, as they repel their foes and beat the odds. I’m not fully sure why I like these kinds of stories so much, but maybe there’s something about them that makes me wonder if I would have what it takes to overcome in the face of overwhelming odds.
At the beginning of the movie The Lion King, Mufasa brings his son Simba to the top of a mountain at sunrise, and tells him that one day he would be king of all of the land that the light touches—it’s a majestic scene. Simba’s response is simply, “Wow,” for he is in awe of how great this promise is. The scene in Genesis 13 is uncannily similar to The Lion King, as God shows Abram (later Abraham) how great His promise is to him. Abram looks up at the land, and God says that “all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.” Here was Abraham—just one man. And though he was already advanced in age and had yet to even have a son, God, the Creator and ruler of the world, comes to him promising him that he and his many offspring would rule over all of this land. We’re not told what Abram’s immediate response was, but I can just imagine that as he stood there, looking in all directions, seeing how vast and great God’s promise was, that he just said, “Wow.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time…” is the start of many stories of regret. For me, every time I drive by a KFC or Popeyes, it seems like a great idea to go and get a bucket of some fried chicken; but every time I’ve done it, it’s ended up in regret because of an upset stomach or a debilitating food coma. Whether it’s making that purchase, going to that particular event, hanging out with that crowd, or dating that person, all of these things that we regret later on started off as great ideas.
The AMI QT Devotionals from October 16-22 are provided by Pastor Shan Gian, who serves as the Fenway site pastor of Symphony Church in Boston. Shan, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania and Gordon Conwell Seminary (M.Div.), is married to Jenny; and they are the proud parents of their first baby Tyler.
In our world, we place a premium on being first in line. If we’re about to check out of the grocery store, we hope to be the first in line at the register. When it’s opening night of a new blockbuster movie, we want to be first in line if we can. And of course when there’s a big job promotion coming up, we want to be first in line to receive it. Being first in line means more opportunities, more choices, better seats, higher income, etc. So, of course, if we have the choice, we’ll always choose to be first in line.
Many of us tend to have a paradoxical view of wealth and possessions. While so many people strive for greater and greater wealth, these same people feel contempt towards those who have great wealth. One example of this is how much people love the classic stories of Robin Hood. They are exciting and inspiring stories about the bravery of Robin Hood and his merry outlaws as they fight injustice. Robin Hood is a hero to most because he steals from the rich to give to the poor, yet people tend to ignore the fact that what he’s doing is theft; and since most people themselves would love to be rich, Robin Hood would be stealing from them!
The AMI QT Devotionals from October 9-15 are provided by Pastor Peter Yoon of Kairos Christian Church in San Diego. Peter is a graduate of U.C. Riverside and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.). He and his wife Jessica have three very active children: Nathan, Abigail, and Jason.
If you could lie about something and not only get away with it but receive nice benefits along the way, would you do it?
On the positive side, I thought, we’d be really good at developing some of our skillsets. Could you imagine playing basketball for 438 years of your life? You’d be really good. But on the flip side, could you imagine working for another 438 years at your job? Even if you love your job, you’re probably saying to yourself, “No thank you.”
The AMI QT Devotionals from October 9-15 are provided by Pastor Peter Yoon of Kairos Christian Church in San Diego. Peter is a graduate of U.C. Riverside and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.). He and his wife Jessica have three very active children: Nathan, Abigail, and Jason.
We understand that faith plays a critical role in our Christian life. Faith is critical for our salvation. Faith moves mountains. Faith heals people. In fact, without faith, we know it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). But if we are honest, we often struggle with doubts. Many in the church wonder if they are genuinely saved. Mountains still remain while healings are sparse. It’s easy to scrutinize ourselves and have a low view of our own faith.