"So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters,
and said, 'Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!'
But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking."
Genesis 19:14
Many years earlier Lot and Abraham had to part ways because their families and possessions had grown too large to stay together. Lot chose the well-watered plains outside of the city. When he moved in, he faced his tent toward the city of Sodom. This was the beginning of the end. It is obvious that the allure of the city was great upon Lot's life. It was so great that the next thing we see is that he has moved in to the city and even become one of the elders of this wicked place. Lot is a perfect study of someone who failed to be a spiritual example.
Temptation to sin is so strong, especially to those who refuse to remove themselves from the place of it. The Bible clearly teaches us that by the power of the Holy Spirit we can flee lust and even resist the devil. We must, however, make a conscious decision to do so. Lot chose to put himself in the midst of a sinful environment, and this decision had tragic spiritual and physical consequences for him and the rest of his family.
When God mercifully sent His angels to warn Lot and his family, it is obvious that they did not want to go even though knew about the coming judgment. Finally, knowing that he had no choice but to go, Lot tried to convince his family that they needed to get out. It is obvious from their reaction that Lot had been anything but a man of God. When he started talking about spiritual things, they thought he was joking. I believe that they had never heard him talk like this before. We cannot wait until a moment of crisis to become a spiritual leader. We must lead by the power of God day in and day out. It will be a consistent walk with Christ that will have the greatest influence on the lives of those close to us. Lot would lose his daughters and sons-in-law that stayed behind, all of his possessions, his wife (who looked back against the command of God because she longed for what God despised), and his moral decency (his own daughters would have children by him up in the mountains).
I guess if I had the opportunity to ask Lot one question it would be this: "Was it really worth all of that?" I am sure that he never planned on it going this far the day he faced his tent toward Sodom, but we never do plan for things to go like that, do we? When we give an opportunity to the flesh, it will without any doubt become destructive. Lot once had such a large family and so many servants. When Abraham began to bargain with God to save the city, surely with all of Lot's family and his servants there would be ten righteous people. Of course, we now know there wasn't. Why? It is like the old saying: "Sin will take you farther than you want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay. It will cost you more than you wanted to pay."
May you resist the devil and live as a righteous example today!
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