Planning..... Robert Frost's Poem, "The Road Less Traveled" has these lines: ...And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Matthew 17:13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Today's outline will be: Choosing the gate All roads don't lead to the same place Choices have results. Choosing the Gate: Today we are going to look at the story of Abraham and Lot in our efforts to understand the whole concept of choices. Our Story begins in Genesis 13. There we find that the Lord had blessed Abraham so much that even his nephew Lot had become wealthy. Their wealth was such that they had to separate because the resources of the land were being taxed by their combined assets. As Abram and Lot meet to discuss the events which were causing the dissension, Abram offers Lot a choice of where he would like to move. By this time Lot should have learned a lot from Abram. He had seen his uncle and the debacle with Sarah in Egypt. He had observed the repentance of Abram and God's continued blessing. He had probably even helped Abram build one of his altars that he was so famous for, as Abram worshipped Jehovah. But Lot looked out for himself. He chose the fertile valley. It was beautiful, and reminded him of Eden. It was fruitful. It had attractive cities. It was a good place for commerce, socialization, shopping, and young people for his kids to associate with. But he was to find that all of these things were a lure that enticed, but did not deliver. More about that later. With Lot taking the fertile valley, Abram moved into the hills and settled in the area of Mamre. Now I have heard it said that all roads lead to the same place, particularly in the religious world. The sad fact is that all roads do not lead to the same place, though it may take a while to tell the difference. I rather imagine that when Lot moved to the valley, that he did not move immediately into Sodom. Genesis 13:13 tells us that the city was wicked and sinful. I'm sure that Lot knew that when he moved. And he probably said that he would just move to the valley where his flocks could find good pasture. We find from reading Genesis that from the time Lot moved to the valley to the time of the destruction of Sodom, was at least 13 years. I can imagine him deciding that it would be easier to sell his cheese and milk if he moved closer to the city. Then perhaps the people in the city began to encourage him to live in the city. Then because he was a prosperous businessman, he was made one of the elders of the city and sat in the gate. His money was appreciated. He was never accepted as we will find out soon. There is something else significant here. During the time that Lot was in the valley, God appeared to Abram several times. He never came to Lot. When they separated, Abram moved to Mamre in Hebron. Here he worships God. And here God comes to visit Abram. First, Abram is promised all of the land for his descendants. That, by the way, included Sodom and Gomorrah. Then Abram was promised many descendants to populate that land. Now we are going to see the contrast between Sodom and Hebron. A war brings on the crises. Sodom is attacked. they find that when trouble comes they cannot take care of themselves. They had focused on pleasure not defense. The city is plundered, king is captured, and so are the inhabitants. Lot's family has by now become a part of the city so he is captured, too. Peter comments on that event in: 2 Pet 2:6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds); 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, Abram gets word from an escapee. He is in Mamre, enjoying the peace of that place. He could have said, 'Serves them right, sinners and selfish people." But that was not what he did. He got his personal 318 man private army, and went after the 5 kings that captured the Sodomites. He waited until dark and formed an ambush against them, took them by surprise, and recaptured all of the people, and the possessions, and the things that belonged to the armies that had attacked Sodom. You would think that Lot would have taken this as a warning, but he did not. He moved back into the city with his family and the rest of the inhabitants. We have been seeing this all along, but as we move towards the climax of the story, we find even more powerfully that choices always have results. Abram is sitting outside in the shade one day and God happens to come along with two of his angels. Abram welcomes them and offers them a meal and drink. They partake of it with Abram, then God tells Abram that Sodom and the other cities of the valley are to be destroyed. Abraham is shocked and concerned. He knows only too well how wicked things are down there. He may have even visited Lot on a trading trip to the city. But Abram's big concerned is that no one who is godly be destroyed in the fall of the cities. So Abram does what he does so well in the rest of his life -- he bargains. We read that amazing passage in Gen 19:22ff Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. 23 And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 "Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 26 So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes." Abram works down to ten. Perhaps he believes that there will be that many righteous. Perhaps he is afraid to go any further with in bargaining with God. Meanwhile, the angels are entering the city. Lot greets them at the city gate -- which shows he had gained a certain amount of respect. -- and invites them to spend the night at his house. In fact he insists, for he knows what kind of city he is living in. No sooner than the sun goes down than the men of the city gather at Lots house and demand that the men be brought out so that they could practice their perversions on them Lot tries to dissuade them. At first he tries talking to them, then he offers his daughters to them, showing how much he had been affected by the evil in that city. After all, was not the violation of 2 virgins more righteous than that of 2 men, not to mention the hospitality factor. Lot is unable to appease the men. In their anger at him they say (v9) And they said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them." So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. Lot had tried to become part of this road, but there was enough righteousness left in him that they hated him, even if he did have a place at the city gate. By his choices, Lot tried to have two masters, and he'd emptied himself of everything that was worth being, worth having. When Lot spoke, nobody listened. Not the men of the city. Not his sons-in-law. Not even his own wife. Abraham was the friend of God who speaks on the most profound terms with the Lord of the universe. When Abraham spoke, God himself listened. The angels step foreword now to take things in their own hands. They blind the Sodomites, and tell Lot and his family to run. But Lot still hesitates. Even after what had just happened, Lot has not completely gotten the message. It is time to leave. The angels again urge him to hurry. Still he hesitates. Then the angels grab them by the hands and pull them out of the city. After what he just experienced, Lot still wants the city road!! Where did that road lead? It lead to the death of his wife, the loss of his children in the city, the loss of all of his property, and finally the loss of the last of his morality. He ended up impoverished, in the wilderness that he thought he was leaving, in a drunken ruin despised by his daughters, whom he had offered to the men of Sodom. The once wealthy man who descended from the mountains to the cities of the plain ended up in a cave, having lost everything. Lot's story ends in that cave. There is no record of his death. All people who choose the wrong road don't end up looking as bad as Lot. But they are in his place spiritually. On the other road, Abram stumbled, made some detours. He lost his temper. He gave up on God. He got tired of waiting. He complained. But continually he choose the road that lead to that city whose builder and maker is God. Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 have the same text: There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. We all need to make plans, to look ahead. There is a saying in the business world, the man who fails to plan, plans to fail. It is also true in the spiritual world. But we have a plus. God will help us make our plans if we will let him. There are some factors that we should be able to figure out but become clearer with God's help. We just simply do not know what is best for us. I think we're more like Lot than we want to admit. We don't know how to receive what God wants to give us versus what the world wants to give us. There are factors that we need to consider in our choices. 1. We may not be spiritually strong enough to survive some decisions that others might be able to survive. What would have happened if Abraham went to the valley? Would he have been seduced by Sodom? Hey, he had seen Egypt. His weaknesses lay somewhere else. 2. Who else may be affected by our decisions? Paul makes it clear that our prime concern should not be is it OK for us to do something. Our major concern should be how does it affect God's work and other people. 3. What is most important? What will survive? What is passing? Many times we will be called on not so much to choose between good and bad, but between good and better. 4. Most importantly, God loves us regardless of what choices that we make. There is no doubt that the choices that bring us closer to him please him more. But he loves us steadfastly regardless. Waiting and hoping that we don't choose Sodom. And if we do calling us back to him. Waiting with open arms. He will allow us to experience the result of our choices. Think of David and Bathsheba. The Antediluvian world. Judas. Remember his tears when he moaned "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I would have gathered you as a mother hen gathers her chicks." But A.D. 70 came anyway. The angels dragged Lot and his family from Sodom. God does not always do that, though he may choose to. We serve the same God Abraham served, a God who is terrible in his holiness, wonderful in his love, an intimate friend, one who will never leave nor forsake us, one who brings blessing to us, who hears the tiniest cry of our hearts. He is a God who could do awful things but has chosen to do beautiful things for us. Lot listened to his own voice, but Abraham preferred the voice of God. Lot was fascinated with power and wealth, but Abraham took joy in the knowledge and discovery of God. Lot died in obscurity, but Abraham is remembered as the friend of God, and it is Abraham's example, not that of the drunken cave-dweller, that can inspire us. If you try to save your life, you'll lose it. Attempts at self-rescue lead to hardened hearts. We don't know how to choose what is best for us. We imagine ourselves capable of serving two masters but are unable to do so. Over and over again, the story of Abraham and Lot tells us of our need to be dependent on God, to trust him. If he says flee to the mountains, we know he will be there with us when we get to the mountains. If he determines a radically different course than the one we have set, it is because he knows what is best for us. Today, as we contemplate a new year, I ask you to plan. Plan to serve Him. Make it a deliberate act. Set time for study. Time for prayer. Talk with Him. "Call upon me," He says, "And I will answer." Today, with me, will you be willing to say, "By the grace of God, I choose to walk the road that leads to Glory. I choose to talk with my Savior every day. I choose to listen to His voice. If this is your desire, let your Friend know by raising your hands towards Him.