Important choices, turning points in our lives, often pop up unexpectedly and shape the course of our lives in radical ways. Both Abram and Lot faced such choices.
The God Almighty appeared to Abram, seemingly out of the blue, and told him to “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Gen 12:1). Abram was living in one of the world’s commercial centers. He was surrounded by family, and enjoying stability, prosperity and a bright future. Leave it, God said, and go. And he “went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).
Lot, his nephew, also faced a choice. His uncle asked him to choose, “So Abram said to Lot, ‘Please let there be no strife between you and me.. Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left’ “ (Genesis 13:8-9). By all rights, Abram should have decided. He was the older uncle, Lot’s provider and protector. But Abram acted with graciousness and generosity. And Lot took advantage of his uncle. “Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere… So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan” (Genesis 13:10-11).
In Scripture, Lot’s foolish, self-centered choice is contrasted with Abram’s God-centered choice. Abram made his choice with an eye to the future. The book of Hebrews tells us that Abram’s choice was a step of faith. He lived in tents, as a alien, “looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). Lot’s choice was more worldly wise. He criteria for choosing was different. He looked at which option promised success, prosperity and a comfortable life. There was one glaring problem with Lot’s reasoning. His choice required that him to live among wicked, ungodly people. Scripture calls them “great sinners against the Lord.”
So what was the result? Because of his choice of faith, Abram became a “friend of God.” Of the many ways God blessed Abram, I think this was the greatest. He became the “father” of the people of God and his seed was none other than Jesus himself. Lot? His life is a tragedy. Look at the consequences of his decision:
1. He lost his “spiritual” bearings
Living in this ungodly setting his soul was corrupted. Peter tells us he ended up “greatly distressed … tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard”
2. He lost his way
Instead of being successful, as he expected, Lot ended up in trouble – a prisoner of an invading army. He had to be rescued by the very uncle whom he had failed to treat with respect. Had not Abram intervened, at great risk to himself, his household, and his “business” Lot would have lost everything.
3. He lost his family
Instead of influencing those among whom Lot lived, the ungodly people around him influenced his family. His daughters were pledged to be married to unbelievers. When Lot was told to flee Sodom, he was told to “bring with your son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters” they thought he was jesting.” Only his daughters followed him out of the city. He had lost his moral and spiritual authority. His wife too had been affected by life in that environment and was loathe to live it behind. She ended up losing her life in the judgment.
4. He lost his reputation
Lot’s end was tragic. His business success, the motivation for his initial choice, collapsed overnight. Lot lost everything. He ended up in a lonely man living in a cave with his two daughters. He ended up the father of two nations, conceived as a result of incest with his daughters. Two peoples that were bitter enemies of the people of God.
Our choices are important. The consequences of our choices are often more far-reaching than we can imagine. God, give us the grace to make wise choices, and remember that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
