TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE

DEVOTIONAL

by Elder Chris Beltran

Sadly, we currently live in a world where sin is promoted, encouraged, celebrated, tolerated, and accepted. As a result, many Christians, young and old, are compromising with the world and rationalizing those behaviors.

You cannot practice immorality and praise Christ at the same time! You cannot walk with Jesus holding the devil’s hand. As the Scripture tells us, “Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). The devil’s mission is to take down to hell as many people as he can with him. He doesn’t discriminate. He wants us all. 

In Genesis 13, we see that both Abraham and Lot’s possessions were becoming greater by the day, so great that they had to part ways because the land could not contain them. Abraham gave Lot the first pick of which land he wanted. Without consulting with God, Lot chose the well-watered plain near Sodom, thinking it would lead to more blessings. The word “Sodomy” came from the root word “Sodom,” which connotes unnatural sexual relationships. 

Lot was described as a righteous man, but here, he compromised. The people of Sodom were so wicked and sinning greatly against the Lord, and this started to affect his family. 

When he had angelic visitors in his home, the sodomites surrounded his house and demanded that Lot surrender them as they wanted to have sex with them. To protect his guests, Lot offered his two daughters to the mob, hoping to pacify their lusts. In the end, the Lord rained down, burning sulfur, completely destroying the city of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Genesis 19). Lot’s wife was killed as well. 

Lot’s daughters thought that they would never have children after God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. They had been engaged to two men, but the men would not listen to the angels’ warning to get out of the town. So they were killed. 

The two daughters rationalized that there were no more men to give them children; they decided to get their father drunk and commit incest with him. The eldest daughter bore a son named Moab, who later became the father of the nation of the Moabites, while the younger daughter bore a son named Ben Amin, who later became the father of the nation of the ammonites. Both these nations became the perennial enemies of the Israelites. 

Compromise with the world brings disastrous consequences to God’s people. Initially, the consequences may not be apparent for a while. But just as getting drunk regularly will bring inevitable damage to our health, so compromising with the world and rationalizing it brings inevitable corruption into your life and may affect the lives of others as well. 

REFLECTION

A quotation I got from social media: “I walk like the world. I talk like the world. I dress like the world. I love the music of this world. I watch things that I shouldn’t watch. But… I am still a Christian. I get drunk, I get high, I smoke, and I party. I lie and steal to protect my self-interest. I have immoral practices. I don’t read my Bible much. I go to church once in a while. But… I am still a Christian.”
1 John 1:6 states, “If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.” As we meditate on this devotion and evaluate our lives, let’s ask: “am I living out the truth or a lie?”

PRAYER

Help me, Lord, to stop compromising with the world and rationalizing it. I want to commit myself fully to walking intimately with You, obeying Your statutes and commandments fully, not half-heartedly. Empower me once again, in Jesus’ name, amen.