Excerpt from 52 Weeks of Pursuit, Vol. 1
There’s a “lot” to learn from the life of Lot!
It’s easy to read over the simple phrase in Genesis 19:1, “and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom,” and miss the incredible significance. In the Old Testament, “sitting in the gate” meant that you were somebody. I mean, when you spent your afternoons hanging out with the fellas down at the gate, you had achieved some pretty major status in the community. But let me assure you, being a bigwig in a city as morally corrupt and whacked out as Sodom is not the position any God-follower should ever want to attain! In the words of James, I think that might be called “friendship of the world” (Jam. 4:4). And this wasn’t a position Lot attained overnight! It was actually the culmination of Lot’s gradual downward spiral into a life of carnality, worldliness and ungodliness. God carefully details Lot’s downward spiral into a life of sin in a seven-chapter span in the book of Genesis. Check out the progression...
• Lot “lifted up his eyes” toward Sodom. (13:10)
• Lot “pitched his tent” toward Sodom. (13:13)
• Lot “dwelt” in Sodom. (14:12)
• Lot “sat in the gate” of Sodom. (19:1)
• And even after God confirmed its destruction, Lot “lingered” in Sodom. (19:15-16)
And we must not miss that this pattern is repeated over and over in the lives of many in Scripture—as well as the lives of many believers right up to the present day! Seldom, if ever, are Christians suddenly overtaken by the world. As in the case of Lot, it begins with friendship with the world (Jam. 4:4); then becomes loving the things of the world (1 John 2:15); until finally, the ways of the world have become such a part of the fabric of who we are, we become completely engulfed by Satan’s diabolical system of evil (Eph. 2:2)—much like we were before God delivered us out of it at salvation. (See 2 Tim. 2:26; 2 Pet. 1:9).
Satan makes this world’s system look attractive, promising, alluring and enticing, but it’s designed to chew us up and spit us out! When Abraham gave Lot the choice of the land he wanted (13:8–11), Sodom appeared to Lot to be a place of peace, prosperity, and protection. In the end, it turned out to be a place of conflict, compromise, and casualty. Lot went into Sodom with his communion with God, his wife, his testimony, his character, and his wealth, and came out with none of them! None!!! Oh, may God help us to see this present evil world for what it is!