Pitch A Tent, Build An Altar

"And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent ... and there he builded an altar" ... Genesis 13:8

This is an interesting story. Whether you are religious or not, there is a lot to be learned from the story of Abram or Abraham in the Old Testament. He is really a testament to the power of persistence and faith. He is a testament to the power of singular focus. He understood what it takes in order to focus solely on your end goal regardless of everyone and everything around you. Abraham literally demonstrated the ability to stay on focus when everyone and everything around him screamed that his dream would never happen. He knew what it took to see something through. He knew that sometimes it would mean that the only who stands with you is you. He knew that, in spite of the doubts of others, he had to remain focused in order for his dreams to be realized. Those are all fantastic points. But those aren't the points that I want to focus on. I want to focus in on this curious behavior that Abraham exhibited. Everywhere that he went Abraham did two things. Firstly, he pitched a tent. Secondly, he built an altar. Although there are obvious religion implications, I want to take these two practices out of the religious realm and into the realm of practical, everyday application.

The first thing he did was to pitch a tent.

Now, that might not seem curious. But, one has to remember that Abraham was a nomad. In other words, he moved around. He never stayed in one place for too long. He was transitory. He moved around. The thing that I find particularly interesting about Abraham is that everywhere he went, he was incredibly successful. His flocks, his possessions, and his wealth grew. But, he never stayed in one place too long. It would seem that he had figured out a way to identify when he has used up the resources at his disposal in a particular area. He knew when he had maximized his time in a certain place and he moved on. Obviously, in his case, this was a necessary practice because his survival depended on it. The survival of his family and his flocks depended on it. Everything depended on his ability to recognize when he had maximized an opportunity and to move on. So, every time he pitched his tent, Abraham was saying that I will maximize this moment and this place, but I will not become attached to it. I will keep my eyes open and recognize when it is time to pull up stakes. I will not become married to this place. I will move when it is time to move.

So, what can we learn from that? I think it is obvious. Life and business are fluid. They are always evolving. They are always changing. We should always be fluid. We should always maintain the capacity for change. We must learn, firstly, to recognize potential and opportunity. Abraham had the ability to do this in every place that he pitched his tent. But, we must also have the capacity to know when potential and opportunity are exhausted. That is when we fold up the same tent that we previously pitched and move on. We should always be looking for growth opportunities as individuals and in business. One of the worst mistakes that we make is to get married to our success. Success is a wonderful thing but it can become a terrible enemy. Why? Because we like the feeling and the euphoria associated with success. There is a tendency to get so attached to our successes that we don’t realize when the time has come to move on. Nothing lasts forever. We have to have a keen awareness of ourselves as people and of our marketplace as business people. We cannot camp out at our successes. We must know when to pull up stakes and move on. Don’t marry your successes. Don’t marry your current situation. Your personal growth and your corporate success depend on it.

Secondly, Abraham built an altar.

Now this one is really interesting. The altar was basically a place of worship and of memorial. In other words, it was the place where Abraham remembered what he had come through and the lessons that he had learned. It is where he gave thanks. But I want to focus on the fact that it was a place of memorial. I find it interesting that the tent was transitory but the altar was permanent. When Abraham left, the altar always stayed behind. The place of worship and memorial or remembrance stayed behind. The tent was transitory but the altar was permanent. So, Abraham has to build a place of worship and memorial or remembrance everywhere that he pitched his tent. So, what can we learn from that? I think there are a couple of things. Firstly, the altar was a place of remembrance. It was where Abraham gave thanks for what he had been through and the lessons that he learned. In other words, Abraham was saying that he learned lessons from the previous places that he pitched his tent. The tent was transitory but the altar was not. In other words, the opportunity was transitory but the lessons he learned were permanent. He never forgot what it took to survive and thrive in each place. He took them with him everywhere that he pitched his tent. He demonstrated this by building an altar …. a place of remembrance. Opportunities in life and in business come … and go. The lessons that we learn from life and business are permanent lessons. They help us to develop and to grow. They become the foundation for good decisions in the next places where we pitch our tent. Tent or opportunity = transitory. Altar or lessons = permanent. The other lesson is this. Abraham built an altar EVERYWHERE that he pitched a tent. In other words, he was committing to always continue to learn. He always had to build an altar because he continued to learn. We NEVER know it all. Our experiences and our relationships always have lessons to teach. We must commit to continually learning those lessons. Our personal development and our business growth depend on it. Commit to learning. The lessons last and serve you for a lifetime.

So, let’s put a nice, tidy bow on this one.

Here it is. We must be fluid. We must commit to always and only pitch tents. We will not marry our successes or our failures. We will learn from it all and continue to grow. We will keep our minds open to always learn. We will never forget that opportunities are transitory but the lessons that we learn are permanent. Our goal is to grow personally, corporately, and in every area of our life. We will maximize every opportunity and learn every lesson. What is the key to this? It’s simple. Pitch tents and build altars.