Choices/Decisions

Sermon: Choices/Decisions
Bible Passage: Genesis 13:10-18; Matthew 4:1-10

1. Lot made a choice based on external beauty (see the following comparison from Genesis 13 & 3)

(a) Eyes 13:10; eyes 3:6-7
(b) Saw 13:10; saw 3:6
(c) Garden 13:10 garden 2:8
(d) Watered 13:10; watered 2:6, 10
(e) Toward the east 13:11; east 3:24, 4:16, 11:2

2. The beauty of the land blinded Lot when he made the decision (the things he was not aware of)

(a) Wickedness (13:13 cf. 19:4-5)
(b) Sinning greatly against the LORD (13:13 cf. 19:13b “The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it)
(c) The beauty of Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed by fire (19:24-25)
(d) Lot saw beauty in 13:10, but Abraham saw smoke 19:28
(e) Lot’s desire for comfortable life, made him separate himself from people of good-influence (13:11)
(f) What appealed to Lot was short lived

3. Abram listens (immediate compliance) to God before he made his decision (13:14-17)

(a) Divine initiative calls for a faith response (13:18)
(b) Abram begins his new phase by building an altar (13:18)

4. Jesus makes a decision between the recommendations of Satan and Father’s teaching (Matthew 4:1-10)

(a) Jesus did not use His divine occasion to meet His personal need
(b) Jesus did not listen to Satan to tempt God
(c) Jesus did not compromise to gain worldly benefits

 Takeaway

Make choices based on God (do not be deceived by contemporary Sodom. Do not ask what Sodom can offer you, but find out what you can offer Sodom) Psalm 119:37; Proverb 3:5-10