Abram lives in Canaan while Lot lives among the cities of the plain and pitches his tents near Sodom. The contrast is stark and deliberate: Abram in Canaan (the promised land), Lot near Sodom (the cursed city). Lot does not move to Sodom immediately — he pitches near it, a proximity that will become presence in Genesis 14:12 and full citizenship by Genesis 19:1 where he sits in the gate. The progression of Lot's compromise is gradual: near the cities, near Sodom, in Sodom, at the gate. Psalm 1:1 describes the progression in the opposite direction: the blessed person does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. Lot's trajectory is Psalm 1:1 in reverse. The application: proximity to what is corrupting is rarely a stable position. Pitching near Sodom is the first step of a journey that ends in Sodom. Name one thing you are currently 'near' that you would not want to end up 'in.'

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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