Deterioration, Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Deterioration
 
Reading:II Peter 2:6-8, 6and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; 7and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8(for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),

The story of Lot is a very sad one. It starts with Lot and Abraham parting ways and Lot choosing the land that was near Sodom and Gomorrah. Here is the nephew of Abraham, who had just been living with he and his family, now chose to pitch his tent near Sodom and Gomorrah. If we fast forward ahead, we see Lot leaving the city of Sodom with his raped and defiled daughters while leaving behind his wife as a pillar of salt. Everything that was really important to him, he lost. The progression… was simply a slow deterioration. He chose to live near Sodom because the grass was greener, then he was living in the city, then he was friends with the grotesquely perverted men of the city… and as Peter states it was a day after day deterioration.
The following song from Casting Crowns give us a clear warning to watch out for the “Slow Fade” of the deterioration away from God:
“It's a slow fade when you give yourself away It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid When you give yourself away People never crumble in a day It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade”

What sin have you “pitched your tent” near, figuratively?

Has your relationship with God deteriorated from where it has been?

What can you do to destroy the sin and stop the deterioration?


What can you do to set protection for yourself to keep from “camping” near the sin?
REVIEW
 
Were you able to identify the areas that have been deteriorating your relationship with God and what were those?

How were you able to defeat those things?