In the previous chapter of Genesis, we see the fascinating conversation between the Lord and Abraham concerning the Lord’s plan to destroy Sodom.  Abraham is concerned about his nephew Lot who is currently living in Sodom.  The Lord agrees to spare Sodom if they find as few as ten righteous men in the city.  Sadly, when they get to Sodom, there is only one righteous man in Sodom; Abraham’s nephew Lot.

What struck me about this account is where Lot is sitting when the two angels show up.  Lot is sitting at the entrance of the city.  Typically, this is where the elders of the city would sit.  It was a place of honor and meant that you represented the city.  God is about to utterly destroy the city of Sodom and Lot is sitting at the entrance of the city as one of its leaders.

Godly men should aspire to positions of great influence within the community they live.  The key is influence.  Lot appeared to be in a position to influence this city.  As you continue to read the chapter, you realize he had virtually no influence upon the people of Sodom.  Only his wife and two daughters were saved out of the city, and his wife didn’t make it all the way out.

The story of Lot’s life is one of compromise.  His fall began with a glance toward the promise of ease and comfort in the abundant land around Sodom.  That single glance was the beginning of a slow fall toward emptiness and loss.  Lot approached Sodom as a rich man.  He will flee the destruction of Sodom with only the clothes on his back.  When Lot looked upon Sodom, he saw rich, fertile plains.  Today, it is a wasteland.  So it is with all compromise.

One small compromise often leads to another compromise that is slightly greater.  And that one leads to another, and another, and another, until you find yourself fleeing for your life and asking yourself, “How did this happen?”  It is possible that Lot could have lived near Sodom and not been sucked into the wickedness of the city.  But he yielded to the temptation and it consumed his whole life.  At any point along the path of temptation we can choose to say, ‘No!”  Lot was not strong enough to do that.

Compromise will always lead, eventually, to loss.  We might appear to be making progress, but we are actually moving closer to destruction than we are to success.  God’s way is always a little harder, but His success rate is 100%.  If you want to have the best life possible, you just need to do things God’s way.  That will sometimes mean saying ‘No’ to something that seems good on the outside, but it is not what God wants for us.  It takes great courage to resist the temptation to compromise.  Lot’s life is a sad example of how a man of God can blow it.  The consequences of Lot’s compromise are still being felt today.  Jesus, help us to resist the temptation to compromise.

Read: Genesis 18:16-19:38, Matthew 6:25-7:14, Psalm 8:1-9, Proverbs 2:6-15