Yesterday’s blog generated quite a few responses. One question was on Facebook – but has since disappeared. I thought it was a very good question, though I cannot quote exact. Something to the idea that if Lot was a righteous man (links will take the reader to the verses) why didn’t he remove himself from the evils around him?
The answer is as true today as it was back then. He became comfortable with the world around him.
Lot had followed Abram from Ur, traveling through several chapters of Genesis until they settled, and disruption occurred among their herdsmen. So, they decided to separate, and Abram gave Lot first choice. Lot chose the plains, as lovely as Eden. Wasn’t too long before the lights of the city beckoned, and Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom.
Years passed, Sodom changed, war occurred and Lot was taken captive. Abram received word, fought for his kinsman and returned Lot and his family to their home.
Nothing there to question Lot’s righteousness, but then angels came to visit. They accepted Lot’s invitation to stay with him. The men of Sodom came to Lot demanding the visitors be turned over to them that they might be raped. Notice the next verse:
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, (Genesis 19:6 KJV)
He’s no longer in a tent pitched toward Sodom, he’s in the city and has earned the right to sit at the city gates. He’s part and parcel of the community. And that community has demanded he help them achieve their goals.
We’ll skip over Lot’s offering his daughters in place of the angels, the angels protecting Lot, even skip their personal response to the men of Sodom and get right to the point.
Lot did what we all do – became complacent to evils around us. Rather than change them, it’s easier to say:
And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. (Genesis 19:7 KJV)
Yeah, right. When has that ever stopped anyone? Have you tried that lately, “Don’t do that, it’s not right!” Say it with emphasis, why don’t you? Does it sound any stronger? Would it have stopped the men of Sodom from entering Lot’s home? Will it stop anyone from entering yours?
What’s that? People aren’t knocking on your door to do evil? Really? What’s on your television? Is any of it fruit of the spirit? As much as I enjoy aspects of NCIS, I can’t find any of the fruit of the spirit in it. I’ve pitched a tent in the wrong direction, haven’t I? But, that’s only an hour, what’s wrong with an hour?
As Lot lingered, so do we.
The world is different. As far as I’ve heard, angels no longer move a man, his wife and daughters out of sinful destruction. Women no longer become pillars of salt, though they do look back – even fall back – into lives that are much worse.
Can we recognize what is around us that needs to be changed? Do we have the desire to see it changed? What action will we take?
Excellent post and a good thought to take away. Just an hour. Just one conversation. Just one friend. When we put that all together, we find that all those 'justs' add up to a life that pulls us far away from God and makes us feel numb to the truth. The only thing I like to watch on TV is Dateline, but even the other night I had to turn it off because they went into too much discussion on the topic of one man's sexual addiction. May we each look at our own lives and see where we have pitched our tents.
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