Comparing Attitudes (Gen. 19:15-26)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09/12/2006

My Worship Time                                                                   Focus:  Comparing Attitudes

Bible Reading & Meditation                                    Reference:  Genesis 19:15-26

            Message of the verse:  “15  When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.’  16  But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.  17 When they had brought them outside, one said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.’

18 But Lot said to them, ‘Oh no, my lords!  19  ‘Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20  now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved.’  21 He said to him, ‘Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken.  22 ‘Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.’ Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.  23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.  24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven,  25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.  26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”

In this section the difference between the attitude of Lot and the attitude of Abraham are going to be discussed.  It is good to remember that Abraham was a man who loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him, but Lot was a man who can be classified as a worldly believer and so his attitude will be different, and those differences can be seen in this section of Scripture. 

It is only by the grace and mercy of God, and probably the pleading of uncle Abraham that Lot and his wife and daughters are being rescued from Sodom, but Lot sees fit to argue with those who are doing the rescuing and really does not want to leave, nor does he want to go where these angels are telling them to go.  There is no gratitude at all in Lot for having his life and the life of his family saved.  On the other hand Abraham will obey God in the future by even offering up his only son to be sacrificed because the Lord had asked him to do it.  There is a lot of difference here in these two men’s attitudes.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Lot was a man who was called a worldly believer and because of that he was a selfish person and wanted his own way all of the time.  This is not good, and it is my desire to seek the Lord in this area of my life.

The Word of God has been convicting to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To pray and as the Lord to have His love flow through me towards Dave and Callie even though there has not been much love returned to me, nor any feelings of love in our relationship for some time. 

            I would seek also to have the Lord to continue to teach me contentment and to direct my path and to show me what it is He wants me to teach on Sunday evening, and give me the grace to do so.