Genesis 18:23-26 - And Abraham came
near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose
there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place
and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? Far
be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the
wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You!
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” So the Lord said,
“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the
place for their sakes.”
Abraham had a wonderful visit with God and two angels. He washed there feet….fed them…and let them
rest under the cooling shade of the terebinth tree. God chose this time to
deliver the news of Sarah’s conception. Then he sent the angels on to Sodom to
see if the town was indeed as wicked as the outcries he had been receiving from
the righteous that had sent up prayers.
When Abraham heard that God intended to destroy the wicked
city...he immediately put his joy on the back burner and went to bat for his
brother Lot. He boldly plead with God to save the city if he could find 50
righteous within its walls. He kept pleading…dropping the number till is got as
low as 10…a number he thought would give safety to his brother and the family
that lived inside the city walls.
I had three thoughts…reflections in the form of questions. The
first was….has the world become a current day Sodom to God? Perhaps the whole word is not…but pockets of
Sodom-like activity plague many parts of the world. It seems as if for every
one person saved and given salvation…two choose a path that does not include
God. The second…are there at least 10 people in those places that know God and
are trying to witness to these lost souls? And the last…most personal question
was am I willing to plead with Christ to save such an area for the sake of
those 10?
Perhaps God does not work the same way he did in Abraham’s
day. Jesus changed a lot of things when
he gave his life to save us all. But
that shouldn’t stop me from doing my part in pleading with God to save those
that can be reached before it is too late. I am blessed to live in an area that
doesn’t seem to have any ‘Sodoms.’ But a day is coming when even my sweet town
and all those in it that do not know Christ as their personal savior will be
cast into a lake of fire to live in agony forever.
Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to plead daily
with you for the souls of the lost in our world. Forgive me for not taking the
great commission seriously enough and assuming that others are doing what I
should be each day. Help me find time in my prayers to petition you for the
souls of everyone in the world that lives without you…to ask you to send out
people in their pathway to enlightening them in love of the consequences of
their decision to reject you. Use me in as many ways as you can here in my own
corner of the world to be an active witness to your amazing saving power. Amen.
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