Joking and kidding around are very much a part of our culture. Sometimes it is very hard to discern when someone is really telling the truth! This can become a problem when serious situations arise and warnings are issued. These warnings often require immediate action to take place in response but over the years, there have probably been many people who have lost their lives, simply because they would not believe a message of imminent danger.
Today's reading takes us to Sodom, the location where Abraham's nephew is living. The wickedness of the city has been noted and angels have come with a grim warning:
"The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square." But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." "Get out of our way," they replied. "This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door. The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared." He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. ) By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived."
Genesis 19:1-29 NIV
What a terrible situation! Sin had consumed the people living in this region and only Lot and his family were saved! Imagine how Abraham felt as he surveyed the destruction from afar. Lot had been rescued but our holy God is serious about sin and this type of sin had pushed Him to the point where He would not tolerate it any longer!
How sad that the sons-in-law didn't take the warning seriously and so they perished along with the cities on that plain! The opportunity to be saved was ignored, just as it often is today when Christians try to warn their families and friends that Jesus is coming again. It is treated as a joke! Still others seem to be heading in the right direction, only to look back!
John the Baptist warned people before Jesus began His earthly ministry:
""The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!"" Mark 1:15 NIV
Some listened but many would have thought it was a joke. Jesus himself warned his followers:
""It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.""
Luke 17:28-35 NIV
The message of the gospel needs to be taken seriously! What will your response be?
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
This was a difficult passage to read and yet a timely reminder that You will not tolerate wickedness. Despite the depravity of this city, You saved Lot and his daughters from the destruction and You have also offered us a safe way out from the certain destruction that will come after Jesus comes again.
Thank You that Jesus came to take the punishment for our sins and make a way for us to repent, believe and be saved. Thank You that we can have assurance that we are already safe and ready for Jesus' return but we pray for our friends and family members who haven't taken the message of the gospel seriously. Open the eyes of their hearts Lord! Help us as we show Your love and grace to them so that they will believe and receive all that You have for them.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
"For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see."
Psalms 36:9 NLT
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Light and Life for Today
SpiritualA daily devotional for your time alone with God. In an increasingly dark world, more than ever, we need to look beyond what we can see, past our present circumstances. In order to see the light and experience life as our Heavenly Father intended, I...
