Lot serves as an illustration of the attitude many people display towards sin. Lot starts out living with Abram, a man of God, and winds up living in a notoriously wicked city of Sodom (Ezekiel 16:49). Many people exhibit the same pattern toward sin in their lives. They start out living righteously, but in the end, they are living deep in sin, and we wonder how they got there.<\/p>\n
Lot’s problems began when he and his herdsmen could no longer get along with Abram and his herdsmen. It often happens that the first sign of problems among the brethren is when they are unable to be of one mind (I Corinthians 1:11, James 4:1-11). A broken front line allows the enemy access to the interior of a country. When Christians cannot live at peace with one another, Satan is able to gain a foothold in the church, playing one brother off of another (II Corinthians 12:20-21). Without the support of our brethren, we are weakened and can fall prey to Satan’s schemes (Galatians 5:14-15). It is our brethren who hold us up when we are weak, who encourage us to stand strong, and who pull us back from danger when we slip (Galatians 5:25-6:3). If we cut off our help, where would we be?<\/p>\n
Instead of planning actions that were best for both Abram and Lot, Lot only looked to his own desires and chose the path that made him happy. God teaches us to put the concerns and affairs of our brethren above our own concerns (Philippians 2:3-4). However, when brethren are only interested in their own desires, then they open the door to Satan. Sin starts by using our own desires to lure us into temptations (James 1:14-15).<\/p>\n
Lot did not move immediately into Sodom. For a while, he lived on the plains. However, he began to creep slowly towards the big city. His focus was on the evil city (Genesis 13:12). Truly, he put his feet on the path of sin (Proverbs 4:14-15). It was not Lot’s intention to sin, but he walked a path that led him in that direction. Too many Christians act as if they are impervious to Satan’s darts. They believe they can do things which they believe are not good, but they are not particularly evil. I have had brethren tell me in all sincerity that they can go to R-rated movies and not be affected by them. Others have told me there is no harm having a dinner in a casino, so long as they don’t gamble. Still others claim there is no harm in an alcoholic drink with a meal, so long as they manage not to get drunk. Brethren, Eve did not sin before she looked at the fruit (Genesis 3:6). Why do you think it is important for us to avoid evil? (I Thessalonians 5:21-22)<\/p>\n
Sin is deceitful, and if we continue to expose ourselves to it, we become numb to its presence (Hebrews 3:12-13, I Timothy 4:1-2). When we surround ourselves with ungodly people, their influence is bound to rub off on us (I Corinthians 15:33, II Peter 3:17). Israel fell because of the influences of those with whom they associated (Hosea 7:8-9). Jehoshaphat is an example of this. He allied himself with the wicked king Ahab through marriage (II Chronicles 18:1). Years later, we find Jehoshaphat supporting the wicked in their evil schemes (II Chronicles 19:1-3).<\/p>\n
Soon we find that Lot is not near Sodom, but living right in the midst of the city (Genesis 14:12). From the account, we realize that Lot has not yielded to sin (Genesis 18:23, 19:16), but he had placed him and his family in great danger. As the Lord warned, when we get involved in worldliness, drunkenness, and worries it slows us down allowing sin to entrap us (Luke 21:34).<\/p>\n
Even though Lot escaped the destruction of Sodom, he did not escape the snare of the Devil. Shortly after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, we read that Lot’s daughters got Lot drunk and committed incest with him (Genesis 19:30-38). This never would have happened if Lot had not crept towards the sin of Sodom. He reaped what he had sown (Galatians 6:7).<\/p>\n
Instead of yielding to the lure of sin, we must resist it (Romans 6:13; 13:11-14). This means more than just removing sin from our lives, but going the extra step of adding righteousness to our character (Ephesians 5:8-11, II Peter 1:1-11). We have no business creeping towards Sodom on the path of sin. We are children of Light walking towards an eternal city of righteousness (Hebrews 11:9-10).<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGenesis\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Creeping Toward Sodom Lot serves as an illustration of the attitude many people display towards sin. Lot starts out living with Abram, a man of God, and winds up living in a notoriously wicked city of Sodom (Ezekiel 16:49). Many people exhibit the same pattern toward sin in their lives. They start out living righteously,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":10504,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10510","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10504,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/genesis-a-study-of-the-beginning\/abram-and-lot\/","url_meta":{"origin":10510,"position":0},"title":"Abram and Lot","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Abram and Lot Read Genesis 13:1-14:24 How wealthy was Abram? Did Pharaoh make Abram rich? What caused the disagreement between Abram and Lot\u2019s herdsmen? Why did Lot choose the plain of Jordan? 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