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Food for Thought
_{^{For the week of July 6, 2008}}
(Questions and Scriptures for further study)

This week we’re going to look at some individuals who bought into the lie that money is the key to happiness and one who didn’t: Lot who hung out with Abraham, Judas the apostle who betrayed Jesus, and a Rich Fool. 

Abram (Abraham) & Lot: Genesis 13:1-13 & Genesis 19:1-29

When disputes arose because of the abundance that Abraham and Lot had accumulated, Abraham took great care to favor his family relationship with Lot over his right to pick first. What does this decision to serve his nephew first indicate about Abraham’s attitude toward money and possessions?

  Lot chose the best land for himself, without concern for its proximity to Sodom. Looking back over your notes, what parts of this week’s favorite lie of the enemy do you think Lot bought into?  And, how does it strike you that he positioned himself so close to an area known for its wicked activity?

What are some criteria you think Lot should have considered that could have safeguarded himself & his family?

Genesis 13:1-13
    So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. [2] Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
    [3] From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier [4] and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.
    [5] Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. [6] But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. [7] And quarreling arose between Abram's herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.
    [8] So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. [9] Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."
    [10] Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) [11] So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: [12] Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. [13] Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. _^[NIV]

Genesis 19:1-29
    The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. [2] "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."
    "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
    [3] But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. [4] Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house. [5] They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
    [6] Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him [7] and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. [8] Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."
    [9] "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
    [10] But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. [11] Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
    [12] The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here--sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, [13] because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
    [14] So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
    [15] With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."
    [16] When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. [17] As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"
    [18] But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! [19] Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. [20] Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it--it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."
    [21] He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. [22] But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
    [23] By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. [24] Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the Lord out of the heavens. [25] Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land. [26] But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
    [27] Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. [28] He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
    [29] So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. _^[NIV]

The Rich Fool: Luke 12:13-21

Instead of storing his crops in order to provide for himself – what are one or two decisions this man could have made that would have demonstrated a wiser outlook?

Consider for yourself the question God poses: “Who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” This passage makes it clear that it’s ok to store up for ourselves – it becomes a problem when we exclude God from the picture. What is one way that you can be rich (generous) toward God this coming week?

Luke 12:13-21
    Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
    [14] Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" [15] Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
    [16] And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. [17] He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
    [18] "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. [19] And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
    [20] "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
    [21] "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." _^[NIV]
 
 

Judas: Matthew 26:14-16 & Matthew 27:1-5

Larry pointed out that compromising relationships for financial gain and being eager to get rich are two telltale signs that someone’s bought this favorite lie of the enemy.  We see both of these telltale signs in Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

Judas tried to reverse his actions and the deal he had made. If you’ve ever made the mistake of preferring money over righteousness, pretend for a moment that you just received a “do over.” What decisions would you make differently now that you are on the other side of the situation?

Matthew 26:14-16
    Then one of the Twelve--the one called Judas Iscariot--went to the chief priests [15] and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. [16] From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. _^[NIV]

Matthew 27:1-5
    Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. [2] They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
    [3] When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. [4] "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
    "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."
    [5] So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. _^[NIV]