Canaan or Sodom
When Abram followed the Lord's command to go to a new land, he took his nephew, Lot, with him. The Lord blessed them so much that they could not live together with all of their flocks and herds, so Abram asked Lot to choose where he would live, and he told him that he would go the other way with his possessions. Lot chose the Jordan river valley near Sodom, because it was lush and well watered. That left the hills of Canaan for Abram.(Genesis 13:12,13) God was able to continue to bless Abram, but Lot and his family well from God's favor. We need to see why this happened, so we can avoid this trap.
The Canaanites were sinful. That is why God sent Abram to that land. It would eventually belong to his descendants, because God was angry with the sins of the Canaanites. However, the men of Sodom were "exceedingly wicked and sinful." Still Lot chose to pitch his tents near Sodom and eventually, he moved into Sodom with his family. The problem was not the sinful people living around them, it was how much sin they took into themselves and their families. Abram lived among the Canaanites, but he did nor receive their sinful ways. Lot not only lived near Sodom, he and his family took in their sinful ways. As Jesus said later we have to live "in" the world, but we do not have to be "of" the world.
How about you and your family? Do you live in a sinful world, but keep a Christian worldview and mindset, or have you adopted the worldview and mindset of those around you? There is a huge difference between the two. Today, we can't move away from evil and sin, but we can refuse to take it into our lives and our homes. When we honor God in that way, He honors us, as He did Abram.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 15-17.
The Canaanites were sinful. That is why God sent Abram to that land. It would eventually belong to his descendants, because God was angry with the sins of the Canaanites. However, the men of Sodom were "exceedingly wicked and sinful." Still Lot chose to pitch his tents near Sodom and eventually, he moved into Sodom with his family. The problem was not the sinful people living around them, it was how much sin they took into themselves and their families. Abram lived among the Canaanites, but he did nor receive their sinful ways. Lot not only lived near Sodom, he and his family took in their sinful ways. As Jesus said later we have to live "in" the world, but we do not have to be "of" the world.
How about you and your family? Do you live in a sinful world, but keep a Christian worldview and mindset, or have you adopted the worldview and mindset of those around you? There is a huge difference between the two. Today, we can't move away from evil and sin, but we can refuse to take it into our lives and our homes. When we honor God in that way, He honors us, as He did Abram.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 15-17.