Thursday, October 20, 2022
A Sure Sign of Spiritual Decline
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. (Genesis 13:12 NLT)
When Lot separated himself from Abraham, it was a good thing for Abraham but a bad thing for Lot. A sure sign of spiritual decline is when we find ourselves wanting to get away from godly people.
If you are really walking with the Lord, you will want to be around godly people. And if you don’t want to be around godly people, it indicates that something is wrong in your life.
Genesis 13 tells us, “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” (verse 12 NLT).
Let’s just say that we stopped Lot at the time and said, “What are you doing? Why are you getting closer to Sodom?”
He might have answered, “First, let me say that I’m a believer in God. I’d never do the things that people in Sodom do. I’m researching this culture. Maybe I can influence them. I’m not going to preach to them, but maybe by my lifestyle, I will affect them and help them become better people.”
Lot was getting closer to Sodom while Abraham was getting closer to God. And then the Lord intervened. In an interesting chain of events, hostile forces attacked Sodom, and Lot was captured. He was in a war that had nothing to do with him.
That was a wake-up call. The Lord allowed this to happen to get his attention.
God brings wake-up calls into our lives or puts obstacles in our paths when we’re going the wrong direction. It starts with our conscience, that little warning buzzer that goes off when we’re doing things we shouldn’t do.
If we’re persistent, our free will ultimately will prevail, and God will allow us to do what we want to do. He will not force His will in our lives, but He will remind us of what His will is.
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