Your Daily Devotional for October 19, 2006

 

October 19, 2006

 

 

Don’t Look!

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.”

 

Genesis 13:10-13

 

 

In these verses, we see the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot. These two men were wealthy and owned many animals which grazed together in the same fields. This caused such great strife between Abraham’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen that they had to separate. Abraham let Lot choose which direction he wanted to take his family, and we see in verse ten what Lot did next, “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.”

 

Lot lifted up his eyes to look upon the land. Instead of looking to Christ and seeking His will for his life, Lot looked at the plains and made the decision for himself. When you take your eyes off Christ and look to the world around you, you will certainly fall. Look to Him before looking around.

 

As Lot looked upon the plain of Jordan, he saw that it was “well watered every where.” This land was very green and luscious and would be desirous to a herdsman. I’m sure Lot was thinking how big and fat his cattle would become and how much money they would bring in. This world knows how to market sin.

 

They don’t portray sin as being harmful and wicked but rather lighthearted and fun! Commercials don’t show the drunkard as he beats his wife or spends the night hugging the toilet; they show him laughing and playing around with his buddies. Sin will look good and enticing to us, but we must have enough spiritual discernment to recognize Satan’s traps and to avoid them. Had Lot sought God’s guidance in the situation, he would have avoided great pain and misery.

I came across this story in an autobiography once: “I live in a small, rural community. There are lots of cattle ranches around here, and, every once in a while, a cow wanders off and gets lost. Ask a rancher how a cow gets lost, and chances are he will reply, 'Well, the cow starts nibbling on a tuft of green grass, and when it finishes, it looks ahead to the next tuft of green grass and starts nibbling on that one, and then it nibbles on a tuft of grass right next to a hole in the fence. It then sees another tuft of green grass on the other side of the fence, so it nibbles on that one and then goes on to the next tuft. The next thing you know, the cow has nibbled itself into being lost.’"

Many Christians today are nibbling themselves into being lost in this world of sin. Have you been dabbling in sin? Decide today that you will look away from the enticements of this world and look to Jesus Christ.  Let Him help you through your day.

---

================================================
THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE PLEASE DO NOT REPLY
================================================
Manage your online subscriptions at
http://www.dailyintheword.org/email/user-login.aspx

To Unsubscribe from this list please follow this link
http://www.dailyintheword.org/email/user-unsubscribe.aspx?s=4159&l=1