The Bible says in Genesis 13:10, “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.” We cannot come to this passage without looking at the choice Lot made. It appears to be a bad choice.
I know how this story ends. I know that this man lost his family. He lost his wife. He had children by his own daughters. We would not have any idea that this man was a man who knew anything about the true God if it were not for the New Testament telling us about “ just Lot.”
I know where this choice led, and so do you if you know the Bible. I would like to say to him while he is standing there making that choice, “Wrong choice! It is always wrong to care more about raising cattle and getting rich than doing what is right for your children. You used the wrong criteria to make your choice, Lot. You looked at the land and the water and thought about all cattle and found a good place for them, but a horrible place for children.”
I wonder how many professing Christians choose a good place for profit, but a terrible place for family? Christian people should never transfer anywhere on a job, no matter how great the job appears, unless they have given full consideration to where they are going to worship God and where they are going to educate their children. Where are our priorities?
This man did not make this choice as you might imagine. Something was missing in his life. He did not have the walk with God that Abram had with God, and he made this pitiful choice.
You and I cannot imagine how horrible an end one may have because he decides he is not going to have the right fellowship with God. It seems like a passing thing at first, to settle for being a mediocre Christian. It seems like you are off the hook, like you do not have to bear down as others do. You have a faith that does not cost you anything. You have taken the easy route with no commitment. Everyone else is pressing on for the Lord, but you are off the hook. You are free. The amazing thing about the truth of God is that it not only confines our path to God’s way, it also sets us free.
May I remind you of something that you need to stop and think about? Not allowing the Lord His rightful place means the choices you start making that affect your life, your children, and your future, are going to be horrible choices. I have lived long enough to see something that I wish I had never seen. I have seen people bring beautiful little children into the world, and then decide that they are going to be parents without a true commitment to God. What we once saw as beautiful little children have now become rebels who care nothing for God, the Word of God, or the work of God.
One cannot put an equation on this and say, “If I do this, it is going to produce this result.” It does not work that way, and I do not have all the answers. But I do know this: if you start making choices for this world and the things of this world, if you make deliberate choices to neglect God and the things of God, it is going to affect adversely the future of all those you love and who love you.
Some of the finest men and women I know in this world who have served God as faithfully as anyone I know have suffered greatly in their homes with their children and loved ones. I am not going to be one who points a finger and says, “I know why,” because I do not know why and you do not either. Do not start playing God. But I do know this: if you live for this world, you are teaching your children to live for this world.
Lot had a pitiful ending with his family. Here is his choice. The Bible says in verses eleven and twelve, “Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.”
There is a digression here. The men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord. God does not tell us everything that happened in people’s lives, but the episode that God tells us about in Genesis chapter fourteen is an act of God’s mercy. Lot was stolen away, and Uncle Abraham went and retrieved him. God gave Lot another opportunity. God has given us many opportunities. I wonder when the last one will come?