Walk by Faith Not by Sight
ICS Daily Devotions
Genesis 13:10-11 (NKJV) And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
Sodom was a corrupt and godless city. Any association with it would have led to a compromised faith. Is the city where you are living a godless one too? Are you associating and thinking like the rest of the people? When we choose to live like the world and trust in the world rather than in God, we will accept its values for success and pierce ourselves with many sorrows.
When Abraham and Lot had to part ways, Abraham gave Lot the priority to choose, and Lot chose the plain of Jordan. Lot represents someone who trusts in the world and believes in what he sees. Eventually, Lot was found living in Sodom, a place of sin and wickedness. He had compromised with the people of Sodom, relied on himself and become a slave. Giving into the world ever so slightly would allow it to create strongholds in our lives.
When a war broke out in Sodom and all of Lot’s possessions were seized, all that Lot had enjoyed and trusted in crumbled before him and he was taken captive. Likewise, the love of money will also cause us to be a slave to the world.
Abraham walked by faith and Lot by sight. There is a danger for Christians too to trust in the world to gain visible benefits rather than to have faith in God. The stronghold of trusting money is revealed when one struggles to tithe to God. Therefore, while we live in the world, we must not operate in its ways and trust in our jobs or businesses more than in God. When the worldly dependence is gone, we will realise on whom we can truly count on.
Abraham took a different direction from Lot. God was with him and told him that He would prosper him. All that Abraham could see to the north, south, east, and west, God had given to Abraham and his descendants. Abraham built an altar unto God, and he worshiped God wholeheartedly.
Later, when Abraham heard of Lot’s plight, he took 318 men to pursue the people who had captured Lot and overcame an army far mightier in size and strength. He defeated the kings who had attacked Sodom and captured Lot, and he brought back Lot, the women, the other people and all the possessions because God was with him. Abraham gave a tenth of everything to Melchizedek, who is a type of Christ, as a declaration of his dependence of God.
Abraham was a man of faith, shown by his obedience when he left the land of Ur upon God’s calling and instruction. It had become a lifestyle to him that God was his sole provider. We should follow Abraham’s example of walking by faith and not by sight.
Sermon Series: Christian Worldview on Success
