It Starts with a Choice

Often I find that people who are the most drawn to the world are those who were raised in the church. On the other hand, when you’ve lived in the world and have seen the underbelly of it, you can become pretty disgusted by it.

When I came to Christ, it was, to some degree, a process of elimination. I knew where the answer was not. I saw everything the world had to offer and then some through my mother’s life and, to some degree, through my own dumb decisions. I wasn’t drawn to those things.

Abraham’s nephew Lot was drawn to the things of the world like a moth is drawn to a light. Lot is identified in the New Testament as a believer, but the problem was that he leaned on Abraham. Abraham walked with God, but Lot walked with Abraham. Lot needed this man of God to keep him moving forward. He hadn’t developed his own close relationship with the Lord.

Abraham, however, was drawn to God. It was Abraham’s love for the Lord that kept everything in perspective. Abraham had his focus on eternal things.

Lot made the wrong choices, and a series of steps led to his ending up in the wrong place. Falling into sin is a lot like gaining weight. You try, but then you cheat. So you rationalize, “I’ve already messed up, so I might as well just keep messing up. I’m already off my diet.”

That’s how sin works. You think, “I know I shouldn’t do this, but I’ll do it just once.” Then you say, “Well, I already did that, so I’ll do this other thing.” A series of small choices leads to bigger and worse choices. That’s how it is with sin. Little things always turn into big things.