There’s a winding mountain road leading up to the High Sierra Mountains on the way to Yosemite National Park. The road passes through several small towns and an occasional home or small business. I recall that when I first started making that drive, I saw a large steak house that had closed recently. “For Sale” signs were everywhere, along with the name of the restaurant. The building was still in good repair, nicely painted, and pleasant to look at. I wondered what restaurant would be there the next time I came through.

It has been 16 years, and that building is still empty. The paint is old and faded, the windows boarded up, the parking lot overgrown with weeds. When this restaurant first opened, it must have bustled with activity: plates, silverware, and glasses clinking; wait-staff scurrying to get food; music playing; people talking, laughing, and socializing. I’ve often wondered what caused it to close its doors.

This restaurant had been someone’s dream. But now the dream has died. The building stands vacant and lonely. No one goes there except for the occasional vagrant looking for shelter. It’s a sad picture. It’s also the tragic story of many people’s lives.

In this section, we will look at the true-life story of a real empty Lot. His story is found in Genesis 13, 14, and 19. Lot was the nephew of Abram, whom the Lord later called Abraham, the father of the Jewish race. In those chapters we read about Lot’s defining decision—the decision that mirrored his whole life and set the tone for the rest of it.

Both Abram and Lot were wealthy men who resided in a foreign country. It was a land that belonged to the Canaanites and the Perizzites. The area where Abram and Lot were living could no longer support two great herds of animals. With no fences or borders to determine where one’s grazing rights began and another’s ended, the herdsmen of the two relatives began to fight. So Abram stepped in and made a wise decision. There was enough room for both of them if they went in different directions.

Abram was the patriarch of the two, and the one to whom God had promised all this land (Gen. 12:6-7). As the proper recipient of the entire region, Abram could have chosen the land he wanted and left the rest to Lot. But Abram showed his godliness by trusting God to keep His promise in His own way. He graciously allowed Lot to choose which land he wanted.

Humanly speaking, it wasn’t a hard decision for Lot. The Jordan Valley was a lush green place, and Sodom and Gomorrah were beautiful and desirable places to live. Lot didn’t think twice. He saw the fertile land of the plains and chose it.

While this decision seemed shrewd for Lot, it turned out badly. His shallow choice reflected his true character and revealed him to be, in several ways, an empty Lot.

Lot’s life can teach us four dangers to beware of when making definingmoment decisions—four dangers that will keep you from becoming an empty Lot yourself. The first danger is:

The Danger Of Deceiving Yourself. From Lot’s tragic life we learn that there are no harmless character flaws. When we read Genesis 13:10-13, it’s clear that selfinterest and greed drove Lot’s decision. Although Abram could rightfully have chosen where he would live, he humbled himself and allowed Lot to choose. Furthermore, Abram initiated the solution to the problem.

Significantly, the Bible does call Lot a righteous man. In 2 Peter 2:6-8, Peter reminds us that God “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; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds).”

Lot was a righteous man because he believed God, expressed his faith in God, and did not approve of the horrible sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. In 2 Peter, however, it seems that Lot’s righteousness is contrasted not with Abram’s but with that of the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah. It’s possible to appear to be morally upstanding but have one or two tragic character flaws that eventually surface.

One of Lot’s flaws was that he struggled with greed and selfishness. He desired the best of the land for himself, and he was in a position to get it. Sodom and Gomorrah were wealthy enclaves—places of great riches because of the fertileness of the region. People like to live in beautiful places, and usually only the wealthiest can afford to.

Lot’s greed is evident in other passages as well. When we read that God sent judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, we gain valuable insight into Lot’s character. God had determined to obliterate the towns for their sin and unrepentance. Yet, even though Lot knew this, he didn’t want to leave. God sent angels in the form of men to protect Lot from the judgment. But the men of Sodom demanded that Lot hand them over so they could rape them. That’s how perverse the people of Sodom had become.

In spite of this horrible decadence, Lot still didn’t want to leave. The angels literally had to drag him and his family out of Sodom. The scriptural account says, “But he hesitated. So the men [angels] seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city” (Gen. 19:16).

Hesitated! Why? The reason is simple. Everything Lot had attained was about to be destroyed—all his wealth, his business contacts, his home, his job, everything but his very life. He still didn’t want to give it up.

You may be thinking, “But I thought he was a righteous man?” Can a person be a Christian and still have a defective character? Yes! Greed, desire, envy, and jealousy don’t go away just because you become a Christian. Sooner or later, God makes us face those issues and brings them to our attention. It cost Lot everything he had before God got his attention.

If not dealt with properly, a single weak character trait can have a negative effect on the rest of our lives. In Lot’s life, greed and self-interest were present, even though he appeared to be a morally upstanding individual.

The heart of the Christian is like a garden. When we are born again, God plants His fruit, the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). But at the same time, Satan keeps trying to replant his own garden in our heart.

Character flaws are like weeds—they grow fastest when they are ignored and become increasingly difficult to pull out. We need to deal with such weeds when they first appear, because by the time we see the plants, the roots are already formed and growing.

My wife Annette and I planted a little garden. We planted corn, pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, beans, herbs, squash, and sunflowers. We planted all those on purpose; we wanted them to grow. We watered them carefully and cultivated them. But weeds popped up without any attention whatsoever. They grew marvelously. We had to pull the weeds continually. We never tended the weeds; the more we neglected them, the better they grew.

The spiritual garden we want must be tended in order to grow, but a spiritual “weed” will flourish with inattention. What weed, or character flaw, are you ignoring? If you ignore it long enough, one day that flaw will grow so large it will be the only thing that people can see in you. All your good qualities will be hidden behind that one character flaw you have ignored.

You may be there right now. Caring people may have already discussed this flaw with you. They have seen how it has taken over your life. When you try to point out all your good qualities, they can’t seem to see them. Your character flaw is now so blatant that it overshadows all your other good qualities. If so, you may be on your way to becoming an empty Lot.

Some Christians joke about their character flaws. “That’s just who I am,” they will tell you with a grin. They seem to think a character flaw is just a personality trait. But the Bible never treats them that way.

I heard of a pastor who was cursing in his sermons and criticizing people he was angry with from the pulpit. He got into a fistfight with an elder from his church at a basketball game. When confronted with this sin, his excuse was “Hey, that’s just me. That’s my personality. It’s the way I am. It’s no big deal.”

He equated his activity with a personality trait that was supposedly beyond his control. Shyness is a personality trait. Being gregarious is a personality trait. But sin is sin! And sins are weeds that must be pulled. Don’t deceive yourself. There are no harmless character flaws.

There’s also a second danger to consider:

The Danger Of Altering God’s Price Tags. Genesis 13:10 tells us, “Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere— this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.”

Everything Lot could see with his eyes looked good. He was smitten with the great lust spoken of in 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

One commentator pointed out that the Hebrew word for sin means “to miss the mark.” He then went on to say: “So a sinner is one who is ever aiming at happiness and constantly missing his mark; because . . . he seeks for happiness where it can never be found” (Adam Clark, The Bethany Parallel Commentary: Old Testament, p.45). Lot didn’t look beyond what his eyes could see. He knew that Sodom was an immoral town. Its reputation was well-known. But it was an attractive place. While Lot never adopted the religion of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, nor their immoral practices, he was smitten with their culture, their “stuff.” They were a people who were looking for happiness where it couldn’t be found, and Lot seemed to have the same weakness.

God places the price tags in life where they belong. He tells us what is valuable and what is worthless. When God’s price tags don’t seem to make sense to us, we’re tempted to change them. Lot chose Sodom and Gomorrah, the capital cities of the “good life.” The result? His righteous soul was constantly offended, oppressed, and influenced by the sinful lifestyle around him.

In chapter 14, we’re told that enemies captured Lot, and that Abram had to rescue him. He no doubt lived a compromised lifestyle in Sodom, one that likely contributed to the low moral standards of his daughters (see Gen. 19:30- 38). Not only did he have to be rescued by angels, he also lost his wife, his sonsin- law, and his livelihood, and he barely escaped with his own life. Lot paid dearly for his poor choice.

Recently, my wife and I struck up a conversation with a clerk in our local Barnes & Noble bookstore. She seemed despondent and mentioned that her house had recently burned down. She sadly shared how she had lost some 75,000 baseball cards she had been collecting as part of a business venture. All the plaques and honors she had accumulated over the years were also destroyed.

When I asked her if anyone was hurt, she nonchalantly shook her head no, as if the question were ultimately unimportant. She obviously derived no comfort from it. Her stuff, which was of great value to her, was destroyed in much the same way that Lot’s things were—by fire. Bible commentator F. B. Meyer wrote, “The world is full of Lots—shallow, impulsive, doomed to be revealed by their choice.”

Have you exchanged price tags in your life? The things we value become the basis for our most important and defining decisions. If we value money and prestige, we will chase a job that brings us these things but little else. We all know scores of people who are unhappy in their jobs but are now trapped. The things that bring them fulfillment don’t make them enough money, and they are too attached to their lifestyle to make the necessary changes. Work becomes a grind, and they grow miserable.

I know men and women who married their spouses primarily for their looks. This is what they valued most in a mate. But now— 5, 10, 15 years later—the luster has worn off. They wish they had married someone more understanding, thoughtful, and considerate—qualities their spouses lack, which now cause them such pain. All around them they see couples who are physically less attractive but are fulfilled in marriage.

When we value all the status possessions of our world—bigger, more expensive homes, and more expensive and newer cars— we can find ourselves sacrificing everything to get them. Spending beyond our means, we end up in debt and unable to enjoy the very possessions we have sacrificed so much to have. In these and many other decisions like them, we can find that our choices reveal who we really are.

What do your choices reveal about what you value? We see this thought developed more fully in the third danger:

The Danger Of Long-term Decisions Based On Temporary Attractions. Lot’s decision was based on what he saw, what appealed to him through his physical senses. What did Lot see when he looked at the beautiful Jordan Valley and Sodom and Gomorrah? He saw three things: beauty, wealth, and ease.

The Jordan Valley was more beautiful than the territory Lot left to Abram. It was a desirable place to live. Think of the Napa Valley in California, or the South of France, where vines and orchards grow abundantly and the countryside is picturesque.

Second, there was wealth. Ample water and pasture meant additional grazing areas and increased flocks. More flocks meant more wealth, because in the ancient East, livestock had value, not currency.

Third, Lot saw ease. It would be much easier to make a living in Sodom and Gomorrah than where Abram was going. When the water is there, and the grass is in abundance, and the fruit trees are already planted, you simply don’t have to work as hard. Caring for the animals is much easier.

Beauty, wealth, and ease. Lot, like so many of us, was sure that the things he now found so attractive would always be that way. People are sure their looks and youth will last, their job will be secure, their talent will always be in demand.

So what happened? Let’s start with the beauty of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was utterly destroyed by a volcanic-like eruption, never to be anything but a desolate plain. And Lot’s great wealth? His flocks were destroyed, his business and his customers were gone, and he barely escaped with his life. And what about the ease of his life? With his livelihood and his home removed, Lot was destined to live in a cave.

Several years ago, there was a sensational story in the news about Della and Darryl Sutorius. Darryl was a heart surgeon who had divorced his wife of 30 years and met a striking woman named Della Britteon through a dating service. He saw a young, quiet, eye-catching woman, and evidently thought she would be everything his previous wife had not been.

He married her only 4 months after his divorce. What he didn’t know, however, was that Della had been previously married three times and was not at all what she seemed. She was dangerous! Each of her former husbands had been lucky to escape their marriage with their lives. Della was vicious and mean, and when rejected, she acted violently. Less than a year after marrying this “beauty,” Dr. Sutorius wanted a divorce. But he never got the chance. Della killed him with a .38-caliber revolver she had bought only 2 days earlier.

Are you making long-term decisions based on temporary attractions? That is one of the quickest ways to become an empty Lot. Finally we come to the last and greatest danger:

The Danger Of Assuming Your Decisions Won’t Affect Others. We infuse those around us with our values, especially those closest to us. Let’s follow the results of Lot’s decision on his family. When they were escaping Sodom and Gomorrah’s judgment, the angels warned them in Genesis 19:17, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” But what happened to Lot’s wife? Genesis 19:26 says, “But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” Don’t misunderstand. The Hebrew word suggests this was not a casual backward glance. It was a long look of desire, a reluctance to leave her home and possessions. She, like her husband, was hesitating, lingering, because she didn’t really want to go. God had sent angels to save them from destruction, and she didn’t want to leave Sodom. She had a severe case of the same greed that Lot had.

Lot’s sons-in-law didn’t take his warnings seriously and were destroyed. But what of his daughters?

When Sodom and Gomorrah were annihilated, Lot took his daughters and hid in a cave with them. His daughters decided they wanted to have children, so they got their father drunk and slept with him (Gen. 19:30-38). These incestuous acts resulted in the Moabites and the Ammonites, two tribes who were a perpetual thorn in the side of Abraham’s descendants.

This story shocks our sensibilities. Where was their faith in God’s provision? Where did Lot’s daughters learn to debase themselves with such horribly immoral decisions? Think about this: How much time had Lot’s daughters spent in the city Daddy picked to be their home? With whom had they grown up, and from whom had they been learning? Who was influencing them day after day, night after night? What lifestyle was their culture bombarding them with continually?

How are our decisions affecting our loved ones? Lot’s faith in God remained, but his decisions had destroyed everything he valued because he had invested his life in things of no value.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger, a radio talk-show host, related how she was once at a loss for words during her call-in show. It was a call from an 11-year-old boy that rendered her speechless. He told her he had a problem. He liked a certain girl at school, but another one was “making eyes” at him and letting him know she liked him. Should he drop his present girlfriend to chase the new one?

Dr. Laura asked the boy, “Well, how would you feel if your daddy went off with some new lady every time one showed interest?” “He did,” was his matter-of-fact reply. Since no loyalty and fidelity was modeled at home, what could Dr. Laura say?

Our values will affect— or infect—those we love. A very enlightening project might be to poll your spouse, children, and close friends, and ask them to share what they feel you value most in life from what they see in your life. Warning: This is not a project for the faint of heart.

If you heed this advice, your defining moment can be a wonderful one, a moment that will positively affect your family and everyone else. Give your own story a happy ending! Don’t become an empty Lot.

Personal Reflection

We all have character flaws, but it’s tempting to justify them or joke about them, instead of dealing with them. The longer we wait to deal with these flaws, the worse they become and the closer we are to becoming an empty Lot. Will your most defining moment be a result of an ignored character flaw? What might you do to prevent it? Now go do it—while there’s time!

Follow-through

Write down what you believe to be your greatest character flaw. Determine to make it a daily matter of prayer. Look up Scriptures related to it, and ask God continually for His power to overcome it. Don’t expect immediate changes. Actions are the result of our heart’s desires—and the heart changes slowly. But start now, and don’t stop!