Loading... WERE WICKED - Genesis 13:13
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008Genesis 13:13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
Have you ever met a person who was openly defiant towards God? They know what they are doing is wrong, but they just do not care. This is what the men of Sodom were doing. They knew that there was a God but they really did not care. They were openly defiant towards living a life that was pleasing towards God.
Noah had only been dead about thirty years and at least Shem was still alive. Surely the men of Sodom knew what God had done to the entire world as a result of the people doing that which is right in their own eyes. Furthermore, the men of Sodom were decedents of Canaan, they had probably heard about the curse of Canaan that was pronounced upon them because of the wickedness of Ham.
However, rather than live their lives to the higher standard and throw themselves upon the mercies of God, these men chose to do what was right in their own eyes. They did not care how their actions might affect others; all they were concerned about was their own personal pleasures. These men knew what was right in the eyes of God and they simply did not care. They practically dared God to punish them.
It is easy to look at your life and proclaim that you are nothing like the men of Sodom. However, no matter how pure you try to live your life, you are a sinner and you have violated the perfect laws of God. Hopefully one of the differences between you and the men of Sodom is that you are not proud of your iniquity.
David is a much better example unto us on how we are to relate to God then the men of Sodom. Rather than be proud of the wickedness that you have committed, it is good to be humble like David and demonstrate to God great sorrow for your willful disobedience. By being quick to repent of your sins, you enable the light of God to brightly shine so that God might be magnified through you.
The men of Sodom could not bury their heads in the sand like an ostrich. They had heard of the consequences of living a life contrary to the will of God and they chose to continue to do what they wanted when they wanted. When you chose to set your own rules by which you live your life, you are no different than the men of Sodom. If you insist that you know better than God what is sin and what is not sin, you are no different than the men of Sodom. If you ignore the clear warnings of scripture on how you are to live your life, you are no different than the men of Sodom.
It is important that you learn to add temperance to your life so that you do not allow the world to taint your perspective of life. The world tries to pretend that there is no God so that they can do what they want when they want. When you understand who God is, than you are not as quick to violate the perfect will of God because you understand that you will be accountable to God for ever word, action, and thought.
By understanding who God is, it is easier to demonstrate self-control when it comes to doing things that you know will not be pleasing to God. Do not be like the men of Sodom who willfully chose to ignore God and do what they wanted. It does great damage to the kingdom of God when one who knows the power of God willfully rejects God for the pleasures of sin.