Daily Devotions
Lot... A Righteous Man?
Title: Lot... A Righteous Man?
Reading for January 4: Genesis 13-17
...if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of teh wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard)...
2 Peter 2:7-8
What do you make of Lot?
In many ways he is one of the bad guys of the Bible. He placed his family in a wicked environment. He was materialistic and covetous (Genesis 13).
Yet, the Bible (above) calls Lot righteous no less than three times! How can this be?
Before I answer that, an observation... The Bible presents both its heroes and villains as believable, neither wholly bad nor good. Biblical characters are complex individuals. They are real people who make really foolish mistakes at times. They are much more than the simple cardboard cutouts we see in the movies.
Back to our question, how can Lot be a righteous man? The fact is he was righteous. There's no debating it, but perhaps it was this fact that led him to make a foolish decision. Perhaps he felt his righteousness would protect him from being negatively influenced by all the wickedness in Sodom.
And he was right, at least in part. He did stand against the tide of wickedness around him in some sense. Read 2 Peter 2:7-8 again. He did maintain some level of righteousness.
But what about his family? His wife became a pillar of salt. His daughters slept with him and had children by him. The Moabites and Ammonites were the regrettable descendants of Lot because of this.
The story of Lot is a cautionary tale. Just because we may be able to maintain our integrity doesn't mean our decisions are wise, especially when we consider the precious souls we're influencing.
Father, give us wisdom and discernment to see not only how our choices will affect ourselves personally, but how they will influence those we love.
