Where blessing and success come from

“Abram and the battle of the kings.” Sounds like some kind of movie set in the middle ages or something like that. 🙂

Anyway, after Abram and his allies gained victory over the kings that had captured his nephew Lot and his family, it would’ve been pretty easy to let pride rise up.

“Here we are, just 318 men, and we rout these kings and their men. What a great military strategist I am! What a great leader I am!”

But Abram didn’t fall into that trap.

Instead, when Melchizedek came, pointing out that his victory came from the Lord, Abram acknowledged it by giving a tenth of the plunder to Melchizedek.

And instead of taking the rest of the plunder as his due for his great victory, he kept none of it—only dispersing some of it to his allies who had helped him and then giving the rest back to the king of Sodom and (assumedly) the king’s allies.

His reason? He remembered where true blessing came from, and would not receive anything from men whose lives were so ungodly. He said in verse 23,

I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’

How often do we fall into the trap of pride?

We begin to think that it’s only because of our own talents, abilities, and efforts that we find success in our lives, and forget that it was God who gave us the talents, abilities, and the strength to do those things in the first place.

And when we forget that, it’s so easy to forget God himself and to start seeking blessings in our lives apart from him, whether it be money, pleasure, or whatever.

That’s what happened to the Israelites when they came into the promised land. Within but a few generations, they quickly forgot that it was God who had brought them there.

As a result, they started seeking blessings from other gods, and in the process, they left God on the side.

It’s worth noting that in a lot of cases, they didn’t completely leave him behind; they just put him on the side while pursuing these other things.

That’s often how it is with us. We don’t really leave God behind. He just ends up on the side somewhere.

How do we avoid this trap when things are going well for us?

First, remember who God is. That he is, “God most high, Creator of heaven and earth.”

An alternate reading for “creator” in the NIV is “possessor.” In other words, because he is the creator, he owns everything, and he is the one who gives us all that we have.

In 1 Corinthians 4:7, Paul wrote,

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

In Jeremiah 9:23–24, God adds,

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.

As we boast in him and not in ourselves, it helps us to maintain perspective on where the blessings and success in our lives come from.

The second thing to remember is to give thanks to him for the blessings we’ve received—as Melchizedek did through his words, and Abram did through his giving.

Once in a while, I hear people say, “Christians don’t have to tithe. That was Old Testament law. We are not bound by that anymore.”

That’s true. But it’s worth noting that before the law came, Abraham—not Moses—set the precedent for tithing. And that he gave it as a sign of gratitude for what God had done.

I believe it is the same with us. We don’t give because of the Old Testament law or out of obligation.

Rather, it’s a way to acknowledge where we got our blessings from and to thank God for them. And in doing so, it helps us avoid the trap of pride.

Lord, help me always remember where my blessings come from. Help me always remember where my success comes from.

I know that they don’t come merely from my own talents or efforts. Rather, they all originate from you.

Help me to always keep a heart of gratitude towards you, to never push you to the side in pursuit of other things, and to always keep you at the center of my life.

In Jesus’ name, amen.