The Man Who Almost Was

THE MAN WHO ALMOST WAS

GEN 13:10-13

Today I want to tell you about a tragic story. It is the story of a man named Lot. He was from a good family, had every opportunity to be a truly great man. But because of the choices he made, his witness and family paid the price.

Let’s look at the things that kept Lot from being the man God wanted him to be:

I. LOVING THE WORLD. VS. 10

A) This does not mean we are to hate the people of the world. This refers to the sinfulness of unbelievers.

B) James 4:4 warns us about having alliances with the world.

One day a certain old, rich man of a miserable disposition visited a rabbi, who took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. “Look out there,” he said. The rich man looked into the street. “What do you see?” asked the rabbi. “I see men, women, and children,” answered the rich man. Again the rabbi took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror. “Now what do you see?” “Now I see myself,” the rich man replied. Then the rabbi said, “Behold, in the window there is glass, and in the mirror there is glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, but you see only yourself.”

Source unknown

II. LACK OF HATING SIN.

A) God looked upon Sodom and it turned His stomach.

B) Lot had gotten used to the dark. II Peter 2:7-8

C) Lot was a saved individual….

1. He had chosen to be around the filth for so long that he lost his sensitivity.

2. Vexed—means “To be worn down by repetition….the idea of a torture of repetition.)

III. LOST INFLUENCE. 19:14

A) Not even ten righteous were left. 18:23-24

--It is at least implied that Lot had 10 members in his family. Him, his wife, his 2 unmarried daughters, his married daughters (plural), his sons-in-law (plural) and his sons (plural)

B) His sons-in-law mocked him.

Just getting out of the driveway was a major feat during last year’s snow and ice storms. One co-worker was relating how he used his seven-year-old son’s baseball bat to smash the slick coat of ice on his driveway. He got cold and went inside for a cup of coffee before attempting to clear the car. Several minutes later, his son, who had been outside with him, came in. “Dad,” he said, “I got the ice off the car.” “How did you do that?” his father asked. “Same way you did,” the boy shrugged, “with the baseball bat.” Contributed by Janine Jaquet Biden Reader’s Digest, January 1996, p. 12.

Don’t be the person that almost was…..be the person God wants you to be.