A Contrast in Choices

In Genesis 13:10 Lot chose to live on the plain of Jordan because it was greener, which meant that his flocks would be well fed, and that he himself could be more prosperous.

Pitching his tent toward Sodom meant that every day Lot saw the wickedness of the people of Sodom. He became desensitized to it and their wickedness eventually wouldn’t bother him.

When your friends and neighbors are doing things, they slowly urge you to join them. This is not a bad thing when they are righteous. But when the things they are doing are wicked, it can be detrimental to your spiritual wellbeing. 2 Nephi 28:7-9 puts this perfectly: 

7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.

 8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

 9 Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.

It can start with just a little bit of sin, just a little bit of lying- it’s expected it’s normal…. Then it will turn into do whatever you want, there will be no punishment for it in the last days. But it is not true; you have to do your absolute best. No, we are not perfect while we are here on this world, but we have to try our best. The Lord Loves us and knows we will make mistakes, but we cannot plan on making mistakes and paying for it later, it is so much harder to fix our mistake then, because we planned on it.

Lot lived in the cities of the plain outside Sodom, but he pitched his tent toward Sodom (Genesis 13:12). He was exposed to the wickedness of the people and eventually desensitized enough that he was later able to live in the city of Sodom itself (Genesis 14:12). Today people still “pitch their tents toward Sodom.” We put ourselves in situations where we aren’t quite comfortable with what is going on. Eventually it becomes comfortable and we will put ourselves in another situation that is even worse that is just a little uncomfortable again. We continue that cycle until we are living in “Sodom” a place that is not safe and eventually can destroy us.

A specific example of this in my life is from high school. In high school I became desensitized to all that my “friends” did, the swearing, the pda, the drugs, the immoral lives, the attitude of “we won’t be caught, we won’t have to pay later for what we are doing now.” It is heart breaking to me now to look back and to see everything that my friends did to destroy themselves, and they didn’t even care. I am glad that I am now out of that situation and able to choose who I associate with having a much larger sphere of people to choose from.

Sodom was full of pride, gluttony, idleness, haughty, rejecting their fellow men, and sexual immorality, including homosexuality. (Romans 1:24-27, 31) explains how God feels about homosexuality. God abandoned the people of Sodom to their “vile affections.” The people “[dishonoured] their own bodies between themselves.” They “changed the truth of God into a lie.” They “served the creature more than the Creator.” Men and women were without “natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.” Is it any wonder that Abraham was challenged to find ten righteous people in the city? Is it any wonder that he was not successful?

In contrast to Lot and his choices is Abraham
and the choices that he made.

Abraham lived “in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.” (Genesis 13:18) Wait, what was the first thing that Abraham did when he moved? He built an alter so that he could worship God.

In Genesis 14:13, Abraham finds out that Lot was taken captive by foreign kings. He then goes out with his servants, who were trained to fight (318 of them), and pursued Lot’s captors into Dan. Once there he rescued Lot and all the other people and goods that had been captured.

In Genesis 14:22-23 Abraham shows that he loves and is committed to God. He will not take anything from the King so that the king will not be able to say that he has made Abraham rich. He does not want to be tied to a king who will ask for favors or make unrighteous demands. He wants to be able to serve God all the days of his life.

Abraham could have become a very rich man if he had taken the king up on his offer. He could have become a ruler of the people, but this would have taken him away from God. If you read Moroni 10:30, you will see that Abraham was touching “not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.” He was avoiding the temptations that would go along with the gifts he was offered.

How can I be more like Abraham, who did not even desire a “thread” of what the king of Sodom had to offer? I can be satisfied, and grateful with the things that I already have. I can praise the Lord for all the blessings that He has given me, and He has given me countless blessings. It makes me thing of the hymn Count Your Blessings; “When you look at others with their lands and gold, think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold.”

How can you be more like Abraham, who did not even desire a thread of what the king of Sodom had to offer? Do not give up your wealth in heaven because you want something now that is worthless in the eternal perspective.