It Makes a Difference Where You Pitch Your Tent

Indiucky A very good friend of mine taught this lesson. He is not a preacher; however he is a Christian, he is a husband, a father, and a professor. When he puts together a lesson it is well thought out and profound. Please consider his words that stuck in my mind as a must for the "What every boy needs to know about being a man speech."

When I was in the Boy Scouts, we went on a camping trip to a place near Shawsville, VA called camp Alta Mons When our troop arrived at the campsite, it had been raining hard all day and more rain was forecast. Several of my friends wanted to pitch their tents next to the creek, but I was afraid the rising water might pose a problem so I chose higher ground. My concern was validated when, during the middle of the night, I heard a bunch of people yelling and screaming. Sure enough, the creek had overflowed the banks and several of the tents were a foot deep in water and camping gear was being washed downstream.

I'm sure you are aware that just a few days ago, four adult scout leaders were electrocuted at the National Scout Jamboree when they attempted to pitch a tent under a power line and the tent pole made contact with the electric wire.

I guess the lesson to be learned from these two accounts is that it makes a difference where you pitch your tent.

The question I want to pose to each of us is, "Where are we pitching our tents?" Of course the question will be examined in a spiritual, not literal sense.

In the Bible record, found in Genesis 13, we read the familiar story of Abraham, or Abram as he was called then.The account started in a place caller Ur of the Chaldees, a place that was located in what we know today as southern Iraq. It began with a man named Terah, who had three sons, named Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran had a son named Lot. As the story unfolds, we find that Lot's father died in Ur of the Chaldees, then he and his grandfather and uncle Abram moved from Ur at the Lord's command. They stopped at a place called Haran, where Terah, The grandfather died. Then, with their families and possessions, Lot and his uncle Abram moved once again to the land of Canaan, which would later come to be known as Israel. When Abram arrived in Canaan, the Lord appeared to him and told him that all his descendants would inherit the land he was surveying, a great tract of land that would belong to all his descendants. Abram was so moved that he built an alter to God and worshipped Him there.

If you remember, they stayed for a short while until a famine hit. Then they journeyed further south into Egypt, where out of fear for his life, Abram made his wife Sarah lie about her identify to the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh thought Sarah was Abram's sister, so he took her as his own wife. The Lord plagued Pharaoh until the truth came out about her true relationship to Abram, after which they all packed up and returned to Canaan.

All the while that Abram and Lot were traveling together, they amassed great herds of cattle and sheep and ranch hands, so that by the time they returned to Canaan, they had accumulated far too much to be able to ranch together. This is the situation in which we find them in Genesis 13, which I would like to read now.

1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.[a] 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

8 So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left."

10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.

Now as you continue reading in the following verses and next several chapters, Abram grows and matures into the wonderful man of God that we study and admire. Sure, he made mistakes, made some bad choices, but he learns from his sin and draws nearer to the Lord in the end.

Lot on the other hand lives a life of grief and heartache. The scriptures say he "pitched his tent toward Sodom." He later moved into town where he initially became one of its leading citizens and enjoyed wealth and influence. But in the end he lost his wife, committed incest with his own daughters, and fathered a nation who would be a thorn in the side of Israel for years to come. Time and time again Abraham had to get Lot out of trouble, for he was a wasted and sorry life. It wasn't his upbringing. It wasn't poverty or bad circumstances, but instead it was the choices Lot made that led to a life of regret and shame.

A writer once said, "We are, where we were, when." Let me say that again. "We are, where we were, when." In other words we are the sum of our experiences and decisions. Lot made a decision that day. He was presented with an opportunity, he surveyed the options, and from his point of view, perhaps he made what appeared to be a sound decision. Abraham said, "Lot look all around. You've got first choice of the land." He looked, and chose a prime piece of property. It was well watered, had plenty of grass, lots of opportunity. Sure Sodom and Gomorrah were there, but no big deal. "They won't bother me." Most likely though, it wasn't a matter of whether he thought they would bother him or not; those two sin filled cities probably never even entered the equation concerning his relationship with God.

But Sodom and Gomorrah did bother Lot. In Genesis 13, Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom, somewhere out in the Jordan valley. He made camp away from those sin filled cities and quietly continued to make a living, but as time passed, he let his guard down.

You see, no matter how noble his intentions, or how strong he thought he might have been, we see that Lot moved into town and put himself right in the middle of trouble. Five wicked kings marched in with their armies and kidnapped Lot and his family and all he possessed. Abram had to rescue him. Did he learn? No, because after that he moved right back into town. You remember what happened next. Three men appeared to Abraham, two of them angels and the other was the Lord. The Lord told Abraham He was going to destroy those wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham pleaded with Him over them. "Lord, if there are 50 righteous people there, would you spare it?" What about 45?, 40?, 30?, 20? He bargained all the way down to 10 righteous people in those wicked places. The Lord told Abraham that if He could find just 10 righteous people, He would spare the cities.

God sent the two men, or angels down to Sodom, where they found Lot sitting in the city gates, a place of prominence in the city. In Genesis 19, we read. "And there came two angels to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the Gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, 'Here now my lords, please turn in to your servant's house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.'"

At first the angels refused, but then gave in to Lot's insisting and went to his home for the night. Verse 4 says, "Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people to every quarter, surrounded his house. And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men that came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them carnally."

Now I want you to see just how far Lot had gone? Far enough that he was willing to prostitute his own daughters to a group of wicked and abominable men just to maintain his honor and self respect. The next day the angels got Lot, his daughters and wife outside the city before they destroyed it, where Lot's wife looked back and turned into the pillar of salt, and after which his own daughters got him drunk and committed a gross act of incest with him so they might perpetuate the family name.

How could a man who had everything going for him end up in such a mess? I'll tell you how. It started with what seemed like a simple and innocent decision to prosper and get ahead, but it cost him more than you or I will ever know.

So what's the point? This is not just a great history lesson; it is much more than that! You see, whether we are just teenagers still in school or adults wading our way through life, we are faced with our futures, and the decision we make today will have lasting effects on how that future is spent. This is true for husbands and wives, for mother and fathers, for sons and daughters, for couples, for families, and for churches.

So the point is this. Where are we pitching our tent today? Think about it! How did one of the strongest men in the Bible, who had more natural ability and potential for leadership, end up with his eyes plucked out only to die beneath a ruined palace? He chose to pitch his tent toward sin and self-satisfaction, spending his life chasing women instead of God.

How did Israel's greatest king, who enjoyed victory after victory and was known in the Bible as a great lover of God and a man of integrity end up having an affair and killing a man? He ruined his family and spent the rest of his life regretting that decision because he pitched his tent toward trouble when he should have been out with his army.

How did a husband and a wife in the books of Acts, who were doing well in the church there, who had just sold a piece of land for a nice price end up dead at the apostle's feet? They pitched their tent towards prosperity and deceit instead of just telling the truth.

You see, most people never just pack up and move into Sodom and Gomorrah. Samson didn't. David didn't. Lot didn't. They just pitched their tent that way and assumed they were men enough to maintain integrity and character, thinking that flirting with sin was not so dangerous, yet they all fell to its wicked grasp like the weak men they really were. The Apostle Paul said, "for if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." We don't have any strength apart from the Lord! We are nothing without Him. Proverbs 10:29 tells us, "The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity." A man's real strength is found in God.

Today, every man and woman in this world is searching for significance, and searching for significance is a good thing, but where are we pitching our tents? Some, like Abraham, have pitched their tents with the Lord. They are enjoying lives of worship and satisfaction and are finding significance in Him. But far too many people are like Lot, pitching their tents according to what appeals to the senses instead of bringing God into the equation. John wrote about how we men seek to satisfy the flesh when he said, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." These are powerful tools in the hands of a powerful enemy, and he has used them time and time again to cause a man or a woman to pitch their tent where it doesn't belong.

Some people have pitched their tents toward work, trying to find significance there through a title or a salary or hourly wage. Sure, it satisfies for a while, but it is never lasting, and before they know it, they have moved right into town, spending more and more time there, selling out their own families, neglecting their duties at home and church, always giving excuses to their kids and to their brethren and to God . . . . . and they never see how their initial decisions led them so far away from where they began. They can't seem to understand why their wife seems so cold and distant now, their kids don't respond to them like they used to, other women begin to appeal to them, any number of other things that are occurring. So just let me say this . . . as we find ourselves in the situation, we better think through what we are doing, and look farther down the road than where we are looking, because it may not take us where we think it will.

So, where are you pitching your tent for fun in your search for contentment? We are today the sum of the decisions we made yesterday, both good and bad. My family today is to a great extent the result of decisions my wife and I made over the past 25 years, and what our family will be tomorrow will be the direct result of where we pitch our tent today.

Listen . . . as children of God; we have a wonderful future ahead of us. I'm not just talking about heaven, I'm talking about the rest of our lives. God has a future prepared for us that is greater than we will ever know so long as we are content with making camp in the right place. Do we want what God has prepared for us? Do we want to enjoy the blessing of the abundant life God has in store for us? If so, then we need to learn to pitch our tents in the right pace and settle down with the Lord. Now there are many choices we have to make that are obvious, but I know as well as you do that some choices and decisions are not so clear. Even Lot's decision to settle in the Jordan valley appeared from the outside to have been a sound decision, so how can we know if we are making the right decisions? How can we know if we are pitching our tent in the right direction? I think there are three questions we need to ask ourselves.

Q1. Where does God fit into the equation?

We might call this the God factor. In every situation we should be asking ourselves. "Is this what God wants for me at this point in my life?" Have we prayed about it? Have we sought God's counsel? Proverbs 3 reminds us to . . . "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Abraham was a good example of this. Think about when he approached Lot? Only after he had spent time at the altar! Only when he was settled in his mind that God was directing him and he was in the hands of the all knowing and all seeing God!

Now there are some decisions we don't have to pray about. The Bible is clear on them. You don't have to seek God's counsel on a lot of matters because His Will will never be contrary to His Word. They will always be in harmony, but in the matters where the Bible seems to be silent, we need to be on our knees pleading for wisdom and direction from the Lord.

When we pray, He'll always answer in one of three ways. God will always answer by saying yes, no, or wait awhile. When he says no or wait, don't run out there and pitch your tent in the wrong place! We must honor the Lord in that decision and wait on Him. And when the decision has been made and the Lord seems to be silent, we must make the decision that we believe will be the most honoring and pleasing to Him. Sometimes we won't know whether we acted in God's will until many years later, but at least we'll be able to say that we made the decision trying to please God in the process.

The second question we need to ask is . . . .

Q2. Where will this decision lead me?

Now the first question is not so difficult to ask, but this question is one we fail to consider or don't want to think about. Where is this going to lead me? In other words, stop and think about it! Somebody said that an unexamined life really isn't worth living. You see, most people, Christians included, just take out on some course of life and don't give much thought to where they are headed; then when they get there, they wonder how they got there and in desperation wonder if it was worth it all. In our mad rush from task to task, form job to job, from this thing to that, we fail to call enough time-outs on the direction our lives are taking and see where we have been pitching our tents.

The final question we need to ask is . . . .

Q3. How will this affect other people in my life?

We are not the only ones involved in our decision-making. If we are married, we have a husband or wife to think about. We may have kids we need to consider. We have friends, and at the very least we have a multitude of people all around us watching our actions to see if we are measuring up to the Christian lives we claim to be living. People are watching us and no matter how much we say we love the Lord, they're not listening to what we say nearly as much as they're watching what we choose to do. Actions speak louder than words.

There are countless decisions we make every day that have great effects on the people in our lives, and our failure to consider them reveals our selfishness. One of the best ways we can be good husbands and wives, and good fathers and mothers, and good sons and daughters is to make our decision according to how they affect the ones closest to us.

In conclusion . . . . The question is asked, "Where are we pitching our tents? Just as Abram and Lot did not long ago, we are now surveying the fields today, and we are asking each other, "Where are you going to go?" "What are you going to pursue?" "Whose agenda will you follow?" As we look around us, we see well-watered fields and fertile lands, you know, potential for success, bigger and better incomes, more personal pleasure . . . . but at what cost? What will be the outcome? Surely those things are not bad in and of themselves, but are they in God's will for us.

Contributors: My friend and those who inspired his lesson