Lot would seem a very unlikely person to be quoted by the Lord's first main shepherd - Peter - as "righteous Lot" in 2 Peter 2:7. The Bible says that "He (the Lord) rescued righteous Lot, (who was) greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked..." While it did not seem so, when Lot offered his two virgin daughters to be violated by the perverted mob who were lusting after the two beautiful angels from heaven, Lot's faith must have been solid enough to be quoted in Scripture as "righteous"....which means, he believed God and was made right before God.
Before we start questioning God why He included Lot in the New Testament as a good man of Faith, it would behoove us to look into our own souls. This requires us to do a soul check ourselves.
Sure, Lot, in a moment of greed, took the best when offered by Abraham, only to find himself in the middle of the biggest template of corruption in history - Sodom and Gomorrah.
Sure, he prospered in those wicked and ungodly cities, while becoming one of their leaders.
Sure, he cared so little for his own innocent daughters as to offer to "throw them under the bus" in front of a demonic mob.
Sure, he got drunk in a cave, after trying to the end, before his flight from Sodom, to make a deal with God's angels.
Sure, he had to know his own first daughter engaged in immorality....and then again.
What about us? Do we watch stuff streaming on Netflix, which are R-Rated? Even the PG and PG-13 stuff have inappropriate content in them which would have been unimaginable in our own owns, 25 years. go. Do we laugh when celebrities and others use words which blaspheme God? Do we engage in the culture by reading books which take liberties with the Holiness of God and all His Glory?
Sometimes, we are even casual during the most important corporate hour of the week - the Church service. The coffee cup has replaced the Bible, even in solid evangelical churches. Yet, even in all of this distraction and cultural infiltration in the House of the Lord, we can remain faithful.
The Bible does not tell us how Lot made it into the Hall of Faith, after all his shortcomings, but it does tell US how what the Lord requires of us:
- We must walk in Holiness
- We must walk humbly before Him
- We conduct ourselves worth of being called a Christian
- We must not have fellowship with the sin, corruption and idolatry of this world
- We must deny our own flesh, thoughts and sins and follow Jesus.
This is not an easy task. In the next post, we will go into series of practical steps to begin this intentional walk of Holiness with the Lord, rather than the current camaraderie too many Christians have with Practical Atheism, while fooling themselves that they are in fellowship with Christ.
