To the Right or to the Left

So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”

So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD. (Gen. 13:8-18)

Look at the contrast between the two men and their choices! 1) Lot living near Sodom, which was horrendously wicked. Contrast that with 2) Abraham, who built an altar to the Lord where he was.

Question: In your daily life and choices, where are you pitching your tent?

“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (Luke 17: 28-33)

Are you making the right choice? Losing your life so you may find it? Abram gave Lot the choice, and the fertile plain of Jordan must have seemed like the best choice. The Five Cities of the Plain were fertile and a busy trading area. It isn’t like Lot decided to go the city with flashing “Sin!” signs and nothing else. On the other hand, he must have been aware of the cities’ reputation. Abram certainly was as he later rejected the King of Sodom’s offer of 10% of his treasure. But Lot chose it on earthly grounds and no other. And Abram, who trusted God and went west, prospered greatly. And we all know what happened after that, when an earthquake struck and the petroleum deposits under the Plain exploded into the sky and rained fire and sulphur down on the great Cities of the Plain. Lot and his family had fled but his wife turned around and was burned to salty ash.

Application
What choices in your life are you facing? Lot’s choice was to go east. This seemed the most profitable and easy way, even though it was a) selfish, and b) the Cities’ reputation left a lot to be desired. Or you can go west like Abram and settle next to trustworthy friends and build an altar to God. One choice seems to grab for life but instead loses it. The other seems to lose the benefits of life, but instead gains all.

What is your east? What is your personal Sodom and Gomorrah? Because those were wicked cities but not just because of their sexual sin. They were rich and proud too. So what is your east – your temptation? The thing you fear to give up? Pride? Bitterness? Fear? Greed? Anger? Self-righteousness? Comfort? Health?

What is your west? The place that doesn’t seem as good as the place Lot went? Forgiveness towards others? Declining health? Financial scarcity? Uncertainty? Change? Unanswered prayer? Submission?

Now – give it up to God. Give it over to Him. Trust God, build that altar. And make the decision today that you will go west; away from the thing that tempts you. And you will gain your life, now and forever!