Sunday 22 May 2005

Vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat at the gate of Sodom.” -
Genesis 19v1

We see the tragic result of where compromise leads. The first time we read of Lot's relationship to Sodom we saw that he “pitched his tent” in that direction. Next, we saw that he dwelt in Sodom. Now, he is sitting at the gates of the city with the city leaders. What a vicious cycle of sin begins we we allow our sights to be set on wickedness. Lot's sin goes so far that when the Sodomites come after his visitors he offers them his virgin daughters instead. His family's sin is so deeply engrained that his wife can't help turning around for one last look. It is so bad that his daughters try to solve the problem of no heir by getting Lot drunk and committing incest with him.

How did things get this bad? How does a just man (2 Peter 2v7) get to the point that he will offer his children to the wickedness of the world? It all began when he pitched his tent in that direction. Lot was a saved man, 2 Peter 2v6-7 makes that clear. Yet those verse also say that he was “vexed,” or worn down by the sins of the city. They vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their wickedness. Although Lot was delivered he lost his wife, and his daughters fell into deep sin.

That is the very nature of wickedness. If we pitch our tents in its direction we are asking for trouble. We must do all we can to avoid looking in the wrong direction.

Yet today we are surrounded by wickedness. Sodom is amongst us. What do we do know as we find ourselves vexed by the filthy conversation of the world. We do well to heed the words of Philippians 2v15 - “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” In order to spare our families we must, by the grace of God, live lives that are blameless and harmless, shining as lights in this world of great darkness.

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