There is an outcry in Sodom and Gomorrah. Who has made this outcry? The righteous are grieved over what is happening in Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham’s nephew Lot lives there, and Peter later tells us that Lot was distressed because of what they were doing in those cities. Their sin is grave. And what was the sin?

Ezekiel tells us that this was Sodom’s sin: she had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They did not keep to the way. The Bible tells us that the Lord is near the humble but far from the proud. It’s humility that keeps us on the way of the Lord. It’s pride that pushes us away.

After unbelief, pride seems to be the deadliest sin. How can we be with God in heaven for eternity if He’s far away from us? We want to draw near to Him, but we can’t if we are in pride. We can’t keep the way of the Lord in pride because Jesus is the Way, and if we are far from Him, then we are far from the way.

Sodom’s sin, like Cain’s, like ours, starts in the heart, forms in thoughts, overflows in words, and produces the fruit of sinful actions. The result of sinful actions is death.

There is no life, no glory, in leaving the way of the Lord. If the paths of righteousness lead us to our eternal home in heaven with the Lord, then the paths of unrighteousness lead in the opposite direction, eternal separation from God.

If you have found you’ve left the way of the Lord, there is something you can do. Repent. It means to change your mind. Change your mind, change how you’ve been thinking.  Humble yourself before God, ask for forgiveness, and make the choice to walk in righteousness, to do what is right, to love justice and to act mercifully, and to walk according to God’s word, keeping to the way.