Have you ever committed to something and been all in. Like we are DOING this! Then showed up and muttered something along the lines of "meeeehhh that was then, this is now, I just...I don't really want to be committed for all that".
You end up showing up to the fundraising car wash but you're still in workout clothes. Like actual sweaty ones, not the cute matching outfit with earrings and make up that the other moms are in.
No, you definitely aren't the volunteer mom extraordinaire that's passing out hydrating drinks to all the kids, has prepacked snacks for everyone, a cute table set up with perfectly packaged baked goods for sale and the most adorably hand crafted DIY boxes for "suggested" donations based on vehicle size.
I've been there.
But have you also been that volunteer mom extraordinaire that shows up BIG ready to do the thing and knock if out of the park?
But everyone there is just there to drop off their kids valentines box and bolt. So you're setting up this massive display, all for some 3 year old kids.
Kids that want to pretend their boxes are boat toilets while chasing each other and gesticulating with weird grunting noises.
You wanted to be there and be there in a BIG way, but it just wasn't your time to shine?
Sometimes we halfway do things we should do whole heartedly. Sometimes we do things with all we've got when we probably should've reigned it in a bit. Its profoundly awkward to be in either situation.
Which brings me to Lot, our Old Testament nephew of Abraham that was all in when he should've not been in at all and halfway when he should've been full steam ahead.
Now, I am sure if you have been in a church for any number of years or went as a kid you have heard about Lot. Abrahams nephew, runs from Sodom and Gomorrah but his wife looks back and turns in to a salt of pill-ah. Actually its a pilar of salt, but when we had the girls in Bible Blast at our church one of the review questions was "what did Lots wife turn into" and cute little number 2 would say it backward EVERY time, she would sigh and sort of mutter it on an exhale "salt of pill-ah". I will never say it correctly again.
So anyway she turns into a salt of pill-ah. And that's it. Well sort of I mean Lot ends up on a mountain and his daughters have sex with him to have babies because you know ... that's normal. I think my entire life being in the church having heard about Lot, the lesson or take away I got from that story was not to look back when God says go. I mean, you don't want to be a salt of pill-ah. But when I read about Lot as an adult in my current season of life. It hit differently.
In Genesis chapter 12, Abraham is called to leave. Verse 1 says "The Lord had said to Abram (later named Abraham), Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you". Big ask right. The part that stuck out to me was "your people and your fathers household". It made me laugh a little because my entire life I have thought aside from the whole trying to have a kid outside of Gods timing, that Abram was a pretty obedient servant. A hard to live up to kind of guy. Except, its right there in verse 4 "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him". Now wait, Lot is his nephew. His nephew on his fathers side. So... here is Lot showing up, but ... was he supposed to? I imagine Lot like that DIY crafting extraordinaire mom, he shows up with his herd in bedazzled custom harnesses, a fancy cricut cut vinyl label on each wine flask he owns and a personalized etched tumbler in his hand with a bag of goodies for everyone on the journey. Lot shows up READY to take part in this journey God has called --- Abram to.
How many times have I found myself in something that I never should've been in to begin with? I've convinced myself I have been called to do something without consulting with the big guy upstairs. So Lot goes despite not being called to and he does benefit from the blessings God has promised Abram. So much so that eventually Lot and Abram have such large flocks, so many tents and herds that the land they are in just doesn't support both of them. There is quarreling between the two different camps and eventually Abram tells Lot 'hey bud, we are family, lets not fight. You pick your Land and I will take what is left'.
Let me point out something big here that I always over looked -- they end up separated.
Abram ends up in a foreign land without his people, without his fathers family.
Which is exactly what God commanded.
The thing is God's plan for us, it will be done. We can take our time getting there, we can take the long way around, we can jump on the boat to the place we weren't supposed to go (cough, cough, JONAH) but we end up right where He intends us to be, eventually.
Lot wasn't meant to be with Abram, he was meant to have stayed. He wasn't called to go but he went until he reached a point where he just couldn't go any further.
God uses Lot though, to teach a lesson. Read that again, God uses LOT, not just his wife.
So Lot looks out across the land and he is human so he decides he is going to look out for himself. He picks the most fertile looking land. He chooses the land that has Sodom and Gomorrah in it. He starts pitching his tents near Sodom, which was already a city full of wicked people sinning "greatly against he Lord" Gen. 13:13.
Oh my, how many times have you heard someone talking about something that concerns them like greatly or is offensive to them, and you've sort of nodded externally but internally you were SQUIRMING becuase maybe you discipline the way they think is abhorrent, maybe you let your kids watch that movie they deem inappropriate, maybe you don't subscribe to their polical views or whatever. The point is you nod and mumble "mmmhmm" in the moment but feel super awkward.
Now read back about how Lot selected his land. Where he chose to set up camp.
That's me.
Ohhhh I can pick the easy questionably moral, sketch option and convince myself that I am just "outside" the circle of disobedience and thus safe, or I can pick the harder option requiring work and patience that also keeps me far far from temptation? I got this, I'll just set up my stuff right here just outside the walls of temptation and sin not quiet in them but close enough to hear everything that goes on, because I am strong. Praise Jesus and his Power I am strong!! I can withstand this exposure.
But I am not. The flesh is weak. So I read that part about lot and I was squirming. We would love to read that little blurb about his choices and think "oh Lot, you silly selfish man" but if we are honest, we do the saaaaaaaaame thing. More then we care to admit or examine. And much like how it ends for us when we flirt with the devil, Lot gets caught up in a mess.
In chapter 14 a rebellion takes place against the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and they flee. In the process their enemies take all their goods. Lot and his household become spoils of war. Someone from his household manages to escape and run to Abram and tells him what happened. Abram gathers a force of men, it actually says 318 trained men, and he... well, he kicks some butt y'all and then takes NAMES (not really, he doesn't take names but he really just defeats the heck out of these people). He ends up winning all the goods back, saving Lot and then winning favor from the Kings that fled. The King of Sodom offers the recovered goods to Abram and that man (good old Abe), he is one of a kind, he says 'nah, I don't need anything from you. I need you to look at my wealth and know it came from God not any man, not you'.
I bet you Lot wouldn't have said that.
I bet you, you wouldn't have said that.
Because I know I wouldn't have said that. I wouldn't have even thought that far down in the scheme of eternity. I would've been stuck in the me in the right now. In the "I just saved y'all and so yes thank you I will take this and that, and maybe even that cup you're drinking out of it looks nice".
I digress. My point is, this story isn't just about Lots wife, Lot or Abraham. It's about us. Me and you.
At this point, you would think Lot might have a change of heart. He might see that his decision to choose the fertile land put him in a worse position than if he's just chosen the less fertile area. That God is the reason for prosperity and it was God that rescued him, not his worldly wealth.
You'd think that. And you'd be wrong.
Scripture doesnt talk about Lot again until chapter 19. But it doesn't need to, because it's pretty obvious what happened.
When it picks back up with his story we find him sitting at the gateway to the city of Sodom. So despite being kidnapped and then rescued by God because of his relationship with Abram, he goes right back to the comfort, the luxury and easy life in the fertile land. In fact he isn't setting up tents outside or near the city anymore, he has a position IN the city. He is a gate keeper. He "made it" in Sodom. He has some real estate and a job with a title. He's done moved up the corporate ladder and he is important now.
He is thriving in a sinful city he never intended to live in to begin with. He planned to camp outside the city walls and here he is living the high life right in the middle of it. Beware of the progression of sin in your life. How often are we like Lot where we approach a situation with a relaxed carelessness not realizing how easy it is to drift into a life of sin.
That's the thing about this culture, we don't often drift into righteous living. Righteous living goes against the current of this sinful broken world. If we are too relaxed, if we allow ourselves to be seduced by money, wealth, status, ease of living and so on, we will drift not toward Christ but away from Him.
So there Lot is, sitting in his position, as gate keeper, when two angels walk in. These are the two angels that had, in the previous chapter, spent some time with Abram, who pleaded with God to save the town if ten righteous people were found there. Abram was pleading with God because Lot was there.
The angels come into town, Lot greets them and insists they come stay with him. He prepares them a meal and even goes to the trouble of baking bread without yeast.
This is big, but why?
Well, because on the surface it would seem as though Lot is protecting these men from this wicked city, insisting they stay at his house instead of in the square. By all accounts it would appear as though Lot has held fast to the faith he was raised in, I mean he made bread without yeast. And with yeast being a big symbol for sin and yeastless bread being a big part of the Jewish law for certain festivals, sacrifices and feasts, Lot is painting this picture of a man that isn't conforming to sin, he is a man of faith. He has managed to live in a city inundated by sin without seccumbing to that sin.
Have you ever found yourself doing that? Projecting, on the surface that everything is fine? Convincing people, as if putting on a show that you aren't struggling with sin. That you can immerse yourself in the culture and not be subject to temptation?
Have yall ever met people that are so faithful they intimidate you? People that can quote scripture, pray out loud eloquently (without quoting children's church songs) and somehow get to church every Sunday on time while also looking put together with all their kids in matching shoes AND socks. The type of person that makes you feel insecure because they seem to not struggle with anything, they don't ever lust after anyone but their spouse or even look when someone else attractive walks by, they never lie, couldn't possibly be vain, don't have a single unkind word to speak or gossip about, always put God first and speak love and joy to everyone in all things...
That person, is good at acting, that person is making yeastless bread for the visitors in Sodom.
But no one is without sin, no one is a better "christian" than anyone else.
I digress, back to Lot.
Before they go to bed, a crowd forms outside Lots door. Word has gotten around that some good looking men have shown up in the city and Lot is keeping them in his house. I imagine that angels are probably really good looking, at least in this story they must be because the crowd is literally shouting "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them" (Gen. 19:5).
Just imagine this for a moment. I am cringing for Lot. The scriptures don't say that Lot normally did this sort of thing but imagine how that looks.
Like the time I told my husband I was trying to not eat as many sweets and then he took the girls to dance, and they convinced him to go to the dollar store that is right next door. They casually grabbed candy off the shelf as a "snack" to eat while they waited for their oldest sister to finish her class.
I mean, they didn't tell Dad that I normally have a deliciously unhealthy snack during dance, but had I been there they may have said "mom come to the store with us so we can get candy, again". And my husband would've looked at me, and I may have pulled them aside to say something like "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing..." which is exactly what Lot says in verse 7.
He goes outside, closes the door behind him, which can we call just laugh at that? Like when in the history of EVER has closing a door kept God from hearing us? Anyway, he shuts the door thinking he can hide this conversation and he says “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof" (Genesis 19:7-8).
Ahhhh and there it is. Lot is showing his true colors. In is attempt to appear righteous, to protect these men, he just tosses his daughters right under the bus. The proverbial bus here, because lets be clear, he is offering to toss his daughters right under a crowd of horny, perverted vial men both young and old. And if I were to speculate, it was not going to be a peaceful consensual thing, they may not even be alive by the end of it. Lot knew that. He was protecting these men and offered to toss his daughters to the crowd. So maybe Lot knew this crowd better than he let on, he isn't as blameless as he pretended to be. Either way, the crowd isn't swayed.
I think it's important to remember what Paul told the church in 1 Corinthians 15:33 "Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character." It's highly unlikely that Lot lived in this sinful city and didn't succumb to the sin all around him. Despite his efforts to project otherwise, the angels grow tired of it all. They reach out and pull Lot back inside. Then blind the crowd and they warn Lot to get out of the city.
They tell him they are there to destroy the city. They don't use gentle words here, they aren't "cleansing" the city or "washing the sin away" no they say “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." (Gen. 19:12-13).
Lot realizing these men just saved his life from a raging crowd snaps to his senses... sort of. He goes to the men his daughters are pledged to marry and tells them 'God is going to destroy this place, we have to go'. He wasn't convincing though.
Which tells us two things, he clearly wasn't conveying the message with the intensity and urgency it deserved and he didn't live a life (at least up to that point) that would convince them God is both real and powerful and that his warnings are worth listening to.
The scriptures don't go into much detail about the exchange but it does say in verse 15 "With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying 'Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished'".
Listen, if an angel came into my house and said "God sent me to light this place up, get out, save yourself and your family" and I ran over to my daughters fiancé and told them what was going on, only to have them to laugh in response... I am not standing there debating.
Right? I might say something like "leaving cant hurt and it might save your life" but I'm not sticking around to find out with them. Play stupid games and you win stupid prizes.
The angels aren't saying "go vacation and we will take care of this place, clean it up a bit and you can come back to this luxury". They aren't saying "take a break from looking at this pornography but leave it where you can access it easy because you can resist that temptation"
No friends, they are saying "God is going to destory this place. At a planned time. If you choose to stay you will perish, so flee. Run far far away"
They are saying "This habit is sinful. This pattern you are struggling with is making God angry. Run from it. Let Him destroy it for you".
And yet Lot hasn't fled yet. At the start of this encounter the scriptures mention they had not gone to bed yet and now we see the words "the coming of dawn". It makes it seem like Lot might not even really understand the gravity of the situation. I picture him sitting there debating the validity of the angels message. Maybe looking around the house at the things he might like to pack... as if God isn't about to destroy the very place he is standing, I picture Lot making a list of totally unimportant things to bring with him.
And in verse 15 the angels warn him again. It goes on in verses 16 and 17 "when he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!".
When he hesitated. Did you read that?!?!?
Has God ever given you a message and you weren't sure about it. You sort of wait a minute like maybe you heard it wrong? God tells you again clearly and you're still like mmmmmm I don't know is this really the right thing? You hesitate because while you believe God is speaking to you, you're scared to be all in...
That was Lot. He knew the angels meant what they said, but he is standing in his house looking all around him and he knows he is going to lose it. His comfort, his status, the easy life he had. It was all about to be destroyed. He wasn't ready yet to go to the mountain to flee as far as the angels warned. So he bargains.
Have you done that?
Ever bargained with God? "Lord if you just let me get to this appointment on time I will never run late again".
"Lord, I know you say I shouldn't cheat on my spouse but what if I'm just really good friends with this person. What if I just camp outside their house in a tent but I don't really go in Lord?".
"Lord I know you say to pray without ceasing but what if I just worry instead of giving it to you God. How about I worry on it while you work on it Lord? Does that work for you?"
Lot does that. He says listen I'll die up there for sure, the mountains aren't for me.
Maybe he was worried he wouldn't make it all the way to the mountains without dying first. Maybe he wasn't ready to let go of the status and material wealth he had in the city, either way he hesitated. He bargains to go to a little town later known as Zoar. The angels concede although if I'm being honest they seem annoyed. Like really annoyed they've had to reiterate several times God is going to destroy this place to Lot and now the guy still doesn't want to flee completely.
Lot and his daughters go to Zoar, his wife looks back turns into the salt-of-pillah. God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah and then "Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave." Genesis 19:30.
It's like Lot wakes up and looks off into the distance seeing the remnants of the destruction of the two cities and realizes, God was serious. Suddenly Zoar doesn't feel safe, the status, the "easy" life of living in a city isn't nearly as important and he flees to the mountains to life in a cave.
From the moment Lot steps foot on his journey with Abraham he try's to make concessions with Gods will so that it conforms to the temptations of the world. Lot repetitively try's to bends Gods plan to accommodate his earthy desires. God doesn't work like that, he expects our submission to who he is as a sovereign God. We cannnot both be in control and have faith, us being in control doesn't leave room for a sovereign God.
When we put our faith in Christ we must resist the temptations of this world and "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness..." Matthew 6:33.
Lots wife may have taught us what Matthew says in chapter 6 vs 21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Which is a lesson that requires a certain level of humility. Of self reflection, where is our treasure truly at?
But Lots choices remind us more importantly that when we lean too much on our own understanding, our own earthly wisdom and desires we will fall victim to the devils schemes and temptations.
Lots repetitive tendency to drift away from the Lord by placing his own desires ahead of Gods stand testament to what John says in chapter 3 vs 30 "He must become greater; I must become less.”
So let us be all in when called to.
Let us stay when we are meant to.
And let us put Gods will above our wishes.
He knows far more than we could ever dream to imagine.
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