Life Lessons From Biblical Characters | Lot

Today's Life Lessons post is a continuation from last week.  There were just too many lessons in this passage for me to cover them all sufficiently in one post.

How many daughters did Lot have? Did he have more than two daughters? In Genesis 19: 8, Lot offers two daughters "which have not known a man" to the crowd outside his door in order to protect his guests. In verse 12, the messengers as Lot if there are any other family memnbers in the city, "son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters...." So Lot goes to his "sons-in-law, which married his daughters." Now, I do understand that engagement equaled marriage in those days, but the word engagement/betrothed is not used (as it is in Mary and Joseph's case).  Then in verse 15, the angels tell Lot, "arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters, which are here..." 

All of this leads me to believe that Lot possibly had more than the two daughters in the house with him at the time.  Did other daughters die with their husbands in the city when it was destroyed because of the example that Lot was (or was not)?  What a sad, sickening feeling he must have had as he was pulled away from the city by the angels, with the knowledge that he still had children in the city that were going to be destroyed as a result of his lack of conviction.  Is it any wonder that his wife looked back?  As women, can you imagine the pain in her heart as she heard the screams and cries of the people as God rained fire and brimstone on the city and knew her daughters voices were in that horrific sound? 

It is so important that we as mothers, parents, teachers, aunts, and caregivers live out our convictions before our children.  If they do not see our convictions lived out, our words will mean absolutely nothing.  The phrase "Actions speak louder than words" is truer than we can imagine. Telling our children to read the Bible and pray is going to mean nothing to them if they do not see us spend time with the Lord.  Telling them to be honest will mean nothing if we have them tell someone over the phone that we aren't home.  Talking to them about character will mean nothing if we quickly change the channel or the website we are on when they walk into the room.

The only way our children will respect what we say, who we are, and what we believe is if they see us live out our convictions.  Yes, our children are going to have to make their own choice as to follow the Lord, but if we give them a good example of a believer in Christ who lives out our convictions, the choice to follow the Lord will be a natural one for them to make.

We need to curb our joking.  Verse 14 says that when Lot went to his sons-in-law to warn them of the impending danger "he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law."  Was Lot always joking around with his sons-in-law in a way that made them lose their respect for him?  Was he always joking around about serious things? 

Don't get me wrong.  Joking around in and of itself is not wrong as long as it is done in the appropriate way and in the right context.  Joking around about the things of God is never appropriate.  Joking around about people in a way that belittles them or demeans them is also inappropriate. 

One of the things that I loved about Brian was his ability to make me laugh.  But his joking was not at someone else's expense.  It was taking the situation that he saw and finding the hilarious side of it.  My dear friend Cathy is also a "find the funny side of a situation" type of person.  They know the balance of having fun, making someone smile without being inappropriate.

We need to shine no matter where we are so that people see a true difference in us.  Do you think that Lot's neighbors knew he was a "righteous" man?  I'm sure they were surprised when they saw the angels whisking him and his family away.  What about us?  Do the people we come into contact with on a daily basis see a true difference in us or do we look/sound/appear to be like everyone else around us. 

I am so proud of Brian.  He works at different job sites each day, but everyone knows that he is a Believer in Christ.  How?  Because of his constant example in how he speaks, acts, and goes about his business.  And what probably speaks louder is what he does not get involved in by conversation. 

Our children and children-in-law will either respect us and what we have to say if they see our convictions lived out in our everyday lives.