January 6, 2026

Business by the Book

January 6

Genesis 18:28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

Someone once said, “You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.”  This phrase is championed by Dr. Charles Karrass who gave seminars around the globe on negotiation. I attended his seminar years ago and learned much about the art and science of negotiation. Every day each person is normally involved in some type of negotiation. Buying a house is a negotiation, selling a house is a negotiation, accepting a job is a negotiation, hiring an employee is a negotiation, even making a purchase at a neighborhood convenience store is a negotiation in that coupons and specials give you a roadmap to making a better deal.

Jessie Belle Rittenhouse (1869–1948) wrote a poem in the early 1900’s about negotiation although she did not use that word.

I bargained with Life for a penny,

And Life would pay no more,

However I begged at evening

When I counted my scanty store;

For Life is a just employer,

He gives you what you ask,

But once you have set the wages,

Why, you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial’s hire,

Only to learn, dismayed,

That any wage I had asked of Life,

Life would have paid.

Genesis 18:16–33 tells a tremendously insightful story of a negotiation between the Lord and Abraham. No doubt there are numerous lessons of life that could be learned from this portion of Scripture. However, over the next few days we will look at this passage as it relates to Biblical principles of negotiation.

Dr. William Howe