Reveration Blog
1/17/2015 It's Only a Small PlaceWhen God chose to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, out of love for Abraham and Lot, He sent angels to rescue Lot and his family. After literally pulling, Lot, his wife and two daughters out of Sodom, the angels told them, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” (19:17) But Lot was too afraid to flee to the mountains so he begged that the angels permit him to reach the small town of Bela. His rescuers agreed to his request and Bela became known as Zoar which means “small place.” Meditation
Genesis 19:20—Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there—it’s only a small place, isn’t it?—so that I can survive. Because Lot had lived for so long in a wicked city, his spiritual life was anemic. Think of King David, who when harassed by his enemies had a completely different outlook. David said, “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2). Lot’s extended valley living corrupted his ability to trust God. But after his wife turned into a pillar of salt, and all the land of the plain looked like a giant smoke furnace, he was too afraid to even stay in Zoar, and headed into the mountains as the angels had first directed. There’s a great lesson in this story for us. The strength of our faith is proportional to our tolerance for sin. If we rationalize evil we become people of small places. God did not change because of wicked cities, Lot changed. The lure of the luscious valley spelled easy living. Observe what is enticing and beware lest your faith becomes shallow and what is small becomes all you can handle. Inspiration Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.—C.S. Lewis inMere Christianity ©2015 Daniel York ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause. If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice. Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth. (Holman CSB) Comments are closed.
|
Categories
All
|
Photo from Rachel Maxey Miles