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WALKING BY SIGHT RATHER THAN FAITH In Genesis chapter thirteen, Abraham (called Abram at the time) and Lot decided to split up so as to avoid future strife between their herdmen. Being the gracious saint that he was, Abraham gave Lot the first choice at the land (Gen. 13:9). Lot, being the carnal backslider that he was, made his choice based totally on sight: “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.” (Gen. 13:10) The first thing Lot did after being given first pick was lift up his eyes. That’s also what we read about Eve in the garden: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food . . .” (Gen. 3:6) That’s what we read about David on the roof top: “he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.” (II Sam. 11:2) That’s the thing that got Achan in trouble: “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment . . . then I coveted . . .” (Jsh. 7:21) That’s the very reason why some Christians have no business on the Internet or watching television. They are backsliders, like Lot, and they can’t think and live beyond what they see with their physical eyes. They see, they covet, they err. The spiritually-minded Christian, on the other hand, lives beyond the things that can be seen. As Paul states in II Corinthians 4:18, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Years ago I heard a story of a young evangelist who visited a church to preach, a circuit rider, I think. For now we’ll call him Brother Jack. When he arrived at the church there was no one there. He started to leave, figuring that he must have gotten the dates confused. Then he felt impressed to go ahead and preach anyway. So, without seeing a soul in the building, Brother Jack went to the pulpit and preached a fine salvation message. Then he prayed and went home. Many years later he was invited to preach at the same church again. Before he preached, the pastor of the church stood in the pulpit and said, “Brother Jack might not remember this, but many years ago when he was a young evangelist he came to this church to preach and found no one here. But instead of leaving, he went ahead and faithfully preached Jesus Christ. He might have felt foolish, thinking that he was preaching to an empty building, but he wasn’t preaching to an empty building. Being a young boy at the time, I had slipped into this building to play. When I heard the preacher enter, it scared me, so I hid behind something until he left. That means I heard his entire message. God convicted my heart and I received Jesus as my Saviour. Later, I would become your pastor.” The backslider doesn’t have such experiences because he doesn’t walk by faith. He doesn’t see the fruit of faith because he has no faith, or very little of it. Just like a lost man, he walks by sight.