In today’s lesson, we’ll be taking a look at Lot, and how a decision he made early in the book of Genesis eventually determined his path for the rest of his life. Are you making decisions today with eternity in mind?
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Transcript: Welcome to Five Minutes With Pastor Lutzer. I’m so glad that you joined us again for our study of Abraham. We’ve entitled it “Strength For The Journey.” In previous episodes, we notice that Abraham backslid—he went into Egypt, disbelieved God. But now he’s back in the land in Genesis chapter 13, and what does he do? He builds an altar unto the Lord. He’s back to worshiping the Almighty.
Now, we must understand that in those days there was a great deal of conflict regarding pasture land, because the Canaanites were there as well. And there was always this jockeying, trying to figure out who belongs to who, and how much land you get for your cattle and for your donkeys. So, Abraham says to his nephew Lot who is with him, he says, “Lot, the land can’t sustain both of us. You make the decision. If you go left, I’ll go right. If you go right, I’ll go left; but it’s your decision.”
Now we come to a very critical passage of Scripture. If only we were to understand its implications properly. It says that Abraham made this deal with Lot, that he would choose. Now before I even read the text, think of Abraham’s generosity. Abraham was older than his nephew; but also, God had given Abraham the land. So he could have said to his nephew, “I’m going to choose what I’m gonna choose, and you get to choose whatever I don’t want.” But Abraham is so generous, he says, “You make the choice.”
Well here we are, and it says in verse 10, “And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered.” He says it was like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. By the way, Egypt never got out of Lot’s heart. We’ll notice that later. Because he went down there with his famous uncle Abraham. But it reminded him of the land of Egypt.
And then it says in verse 11, “So Lot chose for himself the best of the pasture land.” “He chose for himself.” And in the process, it says that he began to pitch his tent toward Sodom. And later on, we’re gonna learn in a future episode that he was actually sitting at the gate of Sodom. He had a very important responsibility as a judge. So he turned in his tent to live in a city; and there were things that Lot couldn’t foresee—or didn’t want to foresee—about Sodom. He didn’t foresee the fact that his family was going to be greatly impacted, that this was a bad place to raise a family, needless to say. He didn’t see all of the benefits of Sodom, and how they would be outweighed with all of the negatives and all of the sin that was around him. He just chose for himself, and what he did is, he made a choice that eventually determined his destiny.
You realize, of course, that Lot was very contemporary. “I’m gonna choose that which is gonna make me most money, that which is going to give me most prestigious—make me prestigious. I am going to choose for myself.” And as I’ve already mentioned—and we’ll see more clearly in future episodes—it ended very badly.
I wanna ask you something today. What decisions are you making today that you will be glad you made 30 years from now? 30 years from now, as you look back on your life, what decisions will you wish you had made today? Because the decisions that we make today, ultimately impact tomorrow; and tomorrow leads to another tomorrow; and eventually our tomorrows lead into all of eternity. You may be a businessman. You may be in a place of responsibility. Ask yourself that question. Decisions have consequences. Let us make consequences very important, and make wise decisions. Because as you’ve heard me say many times: life is short, and eternity is very long.
Join us again next time as we continue the discussion of Abraham and Lot. But as for today, just go with God.