Bad choices… We’ve all made them. How can we avoid making more? I believe the Bible gives us some great insights.
Let’s look today at a man by the name of Lot. He made a bad choice. He chose to move to the city of Sodom. And why did he do that? Well listen to what the Bible says in Genesis 13, verse number 10, and Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere, like the Garden of the Lord. And then we read down further, in verse number 12, Abraham settled in the land of Canaan, while a Lot settled among the cities of the valley, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now, the men of Sodom were wicked, great centers against the law.
So what was it that led Lot to make this bad choice? And we go back to that first verse number 10. And we saw what he made his choice upon. It was he lifted up his eyes, and he saw, oh, it looked good. It looked like that would be the best place to live. And he moved further and further away from the good influence of someone like Abraham. And closer and closer to the people of Sodom who work of reputation. They were a wicked people, he knew that, but he continued to move closer to them.
So two cautions here in making a decision. One, don’t base it on the outward appearance. Sometimes think that looks so good. But remember, the devil is a master. He knows how to bait us, he uses snares to trap us. So be aware of things that look good. Pray, seek wisdom, search the Scriptures before you make those decisions. And then secondly, be careful of the company you keep.
The further he moved away from his uncle Abraham. And the closer he moved to the people of Sodom, the more he was making a bad choice. Ultimately, it cost him his family, it cost him his possessions, because step by step, he moved further away, and eventually ended up in Sodom, and was the one who lost so much.
So I want to encourage you today, make good choices based on prayer, on counsel on scripture, and if you do, you can avoid the great losses.