Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! 9 The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
10 Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. 12 So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. 13 But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord. Genesis 13:8-13
What about you? Where would you have chosen to live? We make choices everyday that either take us closer to God, or farther from Him. Lot saw the fertility of the plains, the riverbed and the beauty of it all that reminded him of Egypt and the garden of the Lord and chose that. Lot also knew that in Sodom and Gomorrah that the people there, well.....they were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against God, so why did he move close to that? I believe, and this is my believe....that we like being close to sin. We like to get close enough without actually doing it. We are so much like our kids when we tell them not to do something, they figure out ways to try to do it without getting caught. But we deceive ourselves and downplay the draw that sin has, so much so the flirting with sin, can often lead to committing to SIN.
We know that we have a past with alcohol but we try to manage it better, instead of staying completely away from it. We know we have an affinity towards pornography but we will still get cable, DTV, DISH, internet, magazines so that we can get more of it. We know that our faith is weak, but we keep our same friends and convince ourselves into believing we can save them, when we can't even save ourselves. We choose comfort over challenge. It's far more comfortable & insane for us to not give tithes/offering and trust ourselves than it is to trust God. Lot by Chapter 14:12 of Genesis no longer resides outside Sodom and Gomorrah, but he now lives in town. Sin is like a bag of tasty potato chips. We know that eating the whole bag aint good for us. We know it drives up cholesterol, it heightens our blood pressure, adds to our body weight, but we convince ourselves (in one sitting) a little bit at a time won't hurt, until the TV show ends and we are sitting with an empty bag of chips wondering how did we ever eat the whole bag. It must have been the chip gnomes! Sin is fun. Sin does feel good.....but only temporarily! Ask the those with diabetes (because of sinful over eating does that feel good). Ask the children of divorced parents does it feel good knowing mom & dad had affairs? Ask the struggling single mom or dad.......is raising kids alone fun. Ask those who are caught in a financial scandal does it feel good to be unemployable? Ask lifetime smokers with cancer now, were the cigarettes worth it. Somethings (food) in moderation are fine, but SIN in moderation hurts over time.
In order to be rid of those things that really hinder our walk, we need to really, SERIOUSLY GET RID OF THEM. If the music your are listening to causes arguments.....GET RID OF IT! If the only movies or games you can watch are ones that you have to wait for the kids to go to bed to watch (due to it's content) GET RID OF THEM! If the people you are hanging with don't help to sharpen your faith......you need to GET NEW FRIENDS! Jesus tell us to cut it off, gouge it out.......what do you play with that needs to be cut off or gouged out? LGLP
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