Creator, Father, King #54

Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live!

• Um, excuse me, Mr. Zookeeper, would you please open the lion’s cage so I can get a closer look at this ferocious beast?
• Uh, pardon me, Mr. NASCAR official, would you mind if I rode my bike on the track during the Daytona 500? I promise to wear my helmet.
• Hi, Mr. NASA official. May I please stand near the launch pad as you blast a rocket into outer space so I can roast some marshmallows in the overwhelming inferno of the liftoff?

Would you ever ask any of these questions? No, of course not! Putting yourself in such close proximity to any of these things would put you in grave danger.

Spiritually speaking, though, this is exactly what Abram’s nephew, Lot, did as he and Abram settled into their new homes in Canaan. As Genesis 13:12-13 says, “Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the LORD.”

Maybe Lot didn’t know about Sodom’s wickedness when he first moved there. But one chapter later, in Genesis 14:12, Lot had moved inside the city gates of Sodom. By Genesis 19:1, “Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom” (ESV), a place reserved for business and judicial matters in ancient times. He apparently had become a prominent citizen.

Lot was playing with fire—literally. God was about to judge Sodom with “fire and burning sulfur from the sky” (Genesis 19:24). Mercifully, God sent two angels to rescue him and his family.

What’s It Mean?

Like Lot, sometimes we put ourselves in harm’s way by not taking sin seriously. We try to dip our toes into sin’s treacherous waters without fully taking the plunge. Or we hang out with bad influences thinking it won’t rub off on us. But sin doesn’t work like that. Sin is a slippery slope. In the end, we usually end up way too deep, needing a spiritual life preserver.

Scripture calls us to “run from evil” (today’s verse) that we might live. We are not to encamp near sin. Rather, we must turn 180 degrees and sprint the other way.

Don’t loiter around sin. Run toward godliness!

Now What?

Sometimes we are blinded to our proximity to sin. Ask a trusted friend or adult to reveal any instances of this to you and pray for the Lord’s help to change.

Did You Know?

Despite Lot’s terrible decision to live in Sodom, 2 Peter 2:8 interestingly calls him “a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw.”