Lot lingered in Sodom when judgment was imminent.

His investments were there.

Had Peter not revealed that Lot was a righteous man (see 2 Peter 2:8), we might have concluded he was a bad man, a lost man. But the Scriptures declare him righteous. Peter says Lot was uncomfortable in Sodom, vexing his righteous soul from day to day with the sinful acts of the citizens there. Nevertheless, he stayed. And his staying cost him dearly.

Writing of Lot’s misery, J. C. Ryle says: “Make a wrong choice in life — an unscriptural choice — and settle yourself down unnecessarily in the midst of worldly people, and I know no surer way to damage your own spirituality, and to go backward in your eternal concerns. This is the way to make the pulse of your soul beat feebly and languidly. This is the way to make the edge of your feeling about sin become blunt and dull. This is the way to dim the eyes of your spiritual discernment, till you can scarcely distinguish good from evil, and stumble as you walk. This is the way to bring a moral palsy on your feet and limbs, and make you go tottering and trembling along the road to Zion, as if the grasshopper was a burden. This is the way to…give the devil vantage- ground in the battle…to tie your arms in fighting…to fetter your legs in running…to dry up the sources of your strength.”

Facing an important decision today?

Make it prayerfully and carefully. And don’t compromise!