PASSAGE: "Then the LORD said, 'The outcry against Sodom & Gomorrah is so great & their sin so grievous . . .'
'. . . Then Abrahan approached Him & said: 'Will You sweep away the righteous w/the wicked? What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away & not spare the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing - to kill the righteous w/the wicked, treating the righteous & the wicked alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?'
"The LORD said, 'If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake,'
". . . what if the number of the righteous is 5 less than 50? . . ."
"'If I find 45 there,' He said, "I will not destroy it'. . .
". . . What if . . . ?"
". . . For the sake of 40 . . ."
". . . What if . . . ?"
". . . if I find 30 there. . ."
". . . What if . . . ?"
". . . For the sake of 20. . ."
". . . What if only 10 can be found there?'
"He answered, "For the sake of 10, I will not destroy it."
~~Selected verses from Genesis 18:20-32 [all emphasis mine, KW<><]
"They think it strange that you do not plunge w/them into the same flood of dissipation, & they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to Him Who is ready to judge the living & the dead." ~~ I Peter 4:4-5
LESSON LEARNED: Sometimes, I feel as though I live in Sodom. So much sin all around. And what's worse is that it seems that the more base, the more foul the sin the better accepted it is. Bad has become good, & good has become bad. I think of Abraham, Lot & even Noah [2 Peter 5:2-9] & how hard it must have been for them to have been the only people trying to live righteously & pass their beliefs down to their families in that culture. We have a hard enough time now trying to keep our children - whether young or young adults - on the path of righteousness; how hard it is to keep those tempting tentacles of sin away from our own lives, much less our children's.
But God promised Abraham that IF there were only 10 righteous people in that entire city that He would spare them. TEN PEOPLE! If the Lord made the same promise to you today, would He be able to find those 10 people in our town? Among our Christian brothers & sisters? Our families?
Even as Christians we fail, we sin. But in Christ we have access to the very Throne of God & can ask for His forgiveness in a way that even Abraham couldn't do. In these days of uncertainty let us be a beacon of hope, a people who have Jesus as our Standard. Let us be a part of the cure & not the problem. Let US be a part of The Ten!
Come & join Nancy at A Country Mom & I, if you are not already participating! Each Wednesday, we dig into the Word of God & share what we are leaning. All you have to do is share a passage you have read during your devotions, share the lesson you have learned from the Lord & then connect with others who are doing the same & comment on their blogs. Let's learn from the Lord & each other.
Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><
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