Someone once said,
“Our lives, and how we live them are the only Bible some people will ever read.”
Just a thought.
Sodom had no Bible, and unfortunately, thanks to Lot, it had no witness for Jehovah.
When we look at the history of the nation of Israel, there is one thing that is unmistakable. Jehovah had called them and commanded them to be a witness to the world around them. It was for the nation of Israel to proclaim there was one true God, and that He was the creator of all things, and that all men should honor Him as the true God.
Worship Him exclusively and serve Him as God in their lives.
Lot could have been a witness, for he had every opportunity to influence Sodom for Jehovah. But he failed to do so.
He had the privilege of being with his uncle Abraham (Abram) for most of his adult life, but it seems he failed to absorb very much of the qualities of this Godly man’s character and conduct.
*And Lot lifted his eyes, and beheld 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.
Lot would rather gain wealth, than follow in the footsteps of Abraham.
Lot was “acclimating" in this new land he thought would be a blessing.
His getting used to and being comfortable with all of this was his demise.
He and his two daughters had to flee the hills after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
They lived in a cave.
He lived in a cave because he feared the people of Zoar.
Lot’s daughters conceived children with their father Lot, after getting him drunk.
The firstborn daughter gave birth to Moab, who became the father of the Moabites.
The younger daughter gave birth to Ben-Ammi, who became the father of the Ammonites.
So much for acclimating.
Look at the lineage.
Ruth the Moabite traced her lineage back to Lot’s daughter.
Ruth married Boaz, and their son, Obed, had a son named Jesse.
Jesses’s son was King David, who was the descendent of Jesus.
If we are going to acclimate at all, it pays to do so in the right place, with the right people at the right time.
How do we do all this by faith in the Lord?
I believe the Holy Spirit, as our Teacher and Comforter and Guide, will help us decide what to do, where to go and who to be with.
We will know in our Spirit the decision we make.
Yes, it is faith. But the lack of peace in a decision is usually a warning sign.
And our motivations to do this, or that, must be pure.
Lot wanted money. He got destruction instead. Greed versus staying and obeying his Uncle Abraham.
Acclimating: becoming accustomed to a new climate or to new conditions.
In the technical sense: respond physiologically or behaviorally to a change in an environmental factor under controlled conditions.
As Christians, “adapting” to living a different way is hard. Adjusting to trying to live clean in an unclean world is difficult too with all the garbage being spewed on us with technology and perverted advertising even in stores we shop in.
Spiritual acclimatization is the process of adapting to a spiritual life and growing in faith. It must involve developing a relationship with Jesus, reading the Bible, and building healthy habits.
Case in point:
When I got saved 47 years ago, in prison in Texas, there was one chapel service a week. It was Protestant. There was a Catholic service as well for those who wanted to go there.
One.
Only one.
No Bible studies or classes on discipleship or prayer gatherings.
Acclimation.
I knew nothing about church, so this was my normal.
If I wanted to pray with a Christian brother on the cell block that I knew back then, I had to take a chance of going to solitary confinement.
(Now, today, it is called Administrative Segregation).
Nice. Ughhh.
This dangerous chance I had to take went like this:
In the evening, after chow time, and when all the inmates were back on the block after work detail and other chores, we were in our cells from 6 p.m. until “rack up.”
Locked in your cell at 10:00 p.m.
“Night, night, sleep tight.”
Before racking up, every hour on the hour, the Boss Man would open all the cell doors to allow men to go to the day room and watch T.V. or go to the gym.
So, when the cell doors opened, I would fast-walk, before all the cell doors slammed shut simultaneously, and go to my Christian brother’s cell on the block who I knew. I had to hurry to jump inside his cell, before getting caught and crushed by the moving steel door.
This only occurred when his cell mate left the cell (through a pre-planned signal we had between each other). I would “cell swap” with my Christian brother’s cell mate as he was leaving the cell, and the two of us would pray and read the Bible for the one hour.
Of course, there would be another “count time” within that hour, randomly, at times, which was not the normal routine by the Boss Man.
We took the chance of the Boss Man recognizing me being in the wrong cell. Getting caught meant going to the Warden and receiving punishment.
First, solitary confinement for up to three months.
Secondly, losing our “good time” accumulated through good behavior.
Thirdly, “catching a case” we called it, would usually result in being transferred to another prison, or having more time added to our sentence.
Risky business to pray.
Deadly, too, in many ways, when the cell mate who left to go to the dayroom to watch T.V., found out I was in his cell, he would retaliate against me.
This happened, and it was my fifth time having my nose broken in life.
Some Christians in the free world, can’t even “get to the church on time, much less understand what prison, underground Christianity, even looks like.
Why should they care anyway?
We deserve to be in prison.
Take the key and throw it away.
Make sure you throw it far enough away from our cell, so we do not find it.
(Amazing what a found key in prison would sell for on the open, black market, inside the maximum-security prison I was living in, back then).
With respect to acclimation, the danger of being so used to where you are and what you are doing comes at a cost.
It is called complacency.
Getting comfortable in your Christianity.
Jesus has never let me be comfortable, in any way, for the last 47 years.
I had to count the costs of serving Him.
Nothing wrong with a career for 40 years in banking or industry. Living in the same house for the sum of those years is good.
I am not talking about uprooting your life because you get bored.
I am speaking to the routine of being a Christian.
Get up.
Pray.
Read the devotional or daily bread.
Get the app that gives you the scripture of the day.
Worship.
Pray some more.
This is all good and is a healthy routine and discipline.
It is when we hurry our processes with Jesus.
He longs for our time in our busy routines.
Drive to work. Work. Drive home. Eat dinner, etc.
Again, rinse and repeat.
I believe when we are in tune with the Holy Ghost, He never lets us acclimate to anything except Him.
We rid ourselves of distractions as best as possible and begin growing closer to Him in the process.
Let's move on to Percolating.
It refers to the old-fashioned coffee percolators.
