on the edge of sin...

"you play with fire you are going to get burned" is something i heard all the time growing up...it was my parents' way of warning me of potential danger when hanging around with the wrong crowd...or going places i should not go...of course i thought my parent's advice was outdated and out of touch with my generation...i had no idea how wrong i could be...

in my devotional this week i was reading about lot...
"abram settled in the land of canaan...while lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as sodom." genesis 13:12

i don't believe lot intended to fall into the immoral activity and evil practices taking place in sodom when he chose to set up his tent in the valley...the valley near the cities of sodom and gomorrah was lush and beautiful...lot chose to live in the area because it was a wonderful place to raise livestock...

sodom and gomorrah became so infiltrated and consumed with evil...war broke out...lot and his family were captured and taken prisoner...when rescued by his uncle abraham...the Bible tell us that lot went right back to the "edge of sin..." although the bible does not give specific evidence of any immoral activity by lot...i wonder if something about the area...other than the lush green beauty...fascinated him...why would he return there after coming so close to losing his life?

unfortunately...i can understand lot and his decision to stay near the "edge of sin," and to return to the "edge of sin..." i have camped on the edge too often in my life and find myself going back to the same campsite over and over again...why? sin feels good...if it didn't...we would not keep going near it...

i believe this is how the enemy traps us...if you play with fire...you are going to get burned...sometimes you only get singed, or you may only come away smelling a little smoky...but you are tainted nonetheless...

God loves us so much...He doesn't want us anywhere close to sin...He will bring destruction – sooner or later – to the means of the sin in our lives...He did this for lot...God set out to destroy sodom and gomorrah...abraham begged God to save lot and his family...because of God's love for abraham...and i believe for His love for lot too...He sent angels to rescue lot and his family...as they were leaving...God sent destruction to sodom and gomorrah...

it is easy at this point of the story to judge lot...but there is a lot to learn from him...

when you are too close to sin:

• you are bound to get seduced...sometimes we like to live right on the edge of sin and flirt with it...the enemy entices us while on the edge...hoping we will cross over and stay a while...

• God will give you an opportunity to be rescued...the rescue might not look like a "typical" rescue but nevertheless He will provide a way out...

• it is hard to reach out and accept the rescue because the grip of the stronghold of sin becomes tighter and tighter with each passing day on the edge...

• once you are rescued...don't look back...the first time lot was rescued...he went back to the "edge of sin..." in the second rescue...his wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt...don't look back...but look toward your freedom...

so...what about you & me? have we chosen to set our tents in an area that seems lush and green? perhaps it is at the water cooler where workday conversations are not appropriate...or maybe we are looking in the wrong place for "mr. right." has the mommy-and-me playgroup become too gossipy? are we "too close" to the edge of sin? do we need to be rescued? if so...we need to cry out to be rescued and when we leave...don't look back...