Lot had many reasons to be happy. He was a rich man, and he had chosen for himself a beautiful place to live. He had a wife and four daughters. Two were married and two lived at home with their parents. He also had a very important place of authority in the city of Sodom. As they say today, he had it all.
One evening two travelers came to his door, and Lot quickly invited them in to share supper and a night’s lodging. The men said, No, we will spend the night in the street.
Those men were God’s messengers, and they knew that Lot was a true believer in God. But they also knew that there was something wrong in Lot’s home. It’s good to be a true believer in the God of heaven and to live a good life, but do you remember that if Jesus is your Saviour you really belong to Him now? Let God make your choices. If you are making your own choices, there is something wrong in your life. For one thing, you are missing the joy of God’s daily companionship.
Please stay, urged Lot, and so the two travelers stayed. Lot was the cook, and he made them a feast and showed them where to sleep. But before they could relax, there was a crowd outside. A whole gang of rioters, old and young, were pounding on the door and calling to Lot to bring out his visitors. This was not just fun or curiosity; they had wicked plans.
Lot stepped outside to calm them down, but they would not listen. Even though Lot was a judge in the city, his life was in danger from this gang. So the two messengers opened the door a little and pulled Lot inside. But a closed door isn’t much protection when a gang is all fired up and about to break down the door. So God’s messengers saved Lot by striking those rioters with blindness, and they couldn’t see to find the door!
Will you find the door to a happy life by any plans you can think of ? You are welcome to come right now to our wonderful Saviour who said, “I am the door” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)). The same hopeless searching will happen to any sinner who will not have Christ the Saviour of sinners right now. And when God shuts that door to heaven, what will you do? “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found” (Isaiah 55:66Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6)). “Behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)).
God’s messengers now told Lot that they had come with God’s authority to destroy the wicked city of Sodom. Bring all your family and come with us, they said. Lot went at once to tell his married daughters and their husbands.
We have to get out of here, because God is going to destroy the city! But they thought it was a joke. Lot had not been living as a believer in God, so why should they listen to him now? If you are a real Christian, are you living so that people are ready to believe you? Stop and think about this.
Morning came, but Lot still did not want to leave Sodom. He had a nice home there, and the sun was coming up as usual. So God’s messengers grabbed the hands of Lot, his wife and his two unmarried daughters and hurried them out of the city, leaving everything behind. Then God in His mercy warned them, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.”
Oh, please! Let me go to this little city instead, cried Lot.
God’s messengers agreed, but Lot and his family missed the joy of letting God decide. Lot lost not only all his riches, but his wife and his married children too. And his two daughters who came with him were sinful and wicked.
As they hurried out of Sodom, God had warned them, Don’t look back! But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
That morning was the very last sunrise over Sodom. It was completely destroyed by fire from heaven, and there were no survivors.
God wants you to listen to this story. He has told it to us because He is the same God today. His mercy calls to you now, but His judgment is sure to come. God is slow to judge and ready to save, even though it cost Him the blood of His beloved Son. Will you come to Him today? and will you let Him make your choices? Then your life will not end in loss and sorrow but in eternal reward.
You may read this story about Lot in Genesis chapter 19.
ML-07/10/2005