You Could Be a Crater

I was reading Genesis 18 this morning. Oh, and by the way, I finished reading the Psalms a few days ago, all 150 of them. Many great lessons and praises, but I have been absent on this blog for the entire month of February (almost, as I posted last on the first...). The reason: I have been in a bit of a slump with my faith. I suppose we all have these times; after all, we are human, and cannot be perfect. The cold weather of winter gets me down every year, and it finally got to me when we turned our calenders to February. This seasonal depression has had me down most of the month thus far, and has affected not just my spiritual life, but my entire life. I've been disengaged at school and work, and quiet in temperament (which is not normal).

Fortunately, our great Father had just the cure for me: weather here in Kentucky has been nice for the past week (up until today, actually), and I feel that a week of warmth may have been a gift from above for myself and others battling a bit of the "winter blues." I feel re-energized and more focused on everything, and thus am returning today with some thoughts. Not much, but a bit to think on.

In Genesis 18, we see a conversation between God and Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish nation and God's people of the Old Testament. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are not far from the place when Abe has his tents set up, and his nephew, Lot, is actually living in Sodom. Yet, these twin cities were completely evil. We see in chapter 19 that the two angels that had been visiting Abraham in chap. 18 visit Lot, the men of Sodom all gathered outside Lot's house, screaming at Lot to give the two men over to the crowd so the crowd could, ehem, have sex with them. Yes, that's how whacked-out Sodom was.

Back in 18, God tells Abraham that He plans to wipe Sodom and Gomorrah off the face of the Earth. Yet, Abraham pleads for God to spare the cities, asking that if 50 righteous people are in Sodom, God would be willing to spare them. God agrees. As the conversation goes, Abraham talks God down from 50 to 10 righteous people to spare Sodom. Of course, Abe didn't change God's mind; God merely allowed Abraham to ask these questions in order to show a side of God that many do not see in this story: a merciful God.

Often, we view God, with respect to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, as the Destroyer of Evil, Justice of the World, etc. After all, the moral of the story is "do bad things, and eventually God will judge you and punish you." Yet, observe something with me. God gave Sodom a chance.

The angels went to Sodom to find the ten people that Abraham had offered. Immediately, as they arrived at Lot's house, they found three: Lot and his two daughters. We could count four, including Lot's wife, but she would eventually disobey the angel when Lot's family was leaving Sodom, and be destroyed. Regardless, it appears obvious by the sex-craved crowd that appeared at Lot's house that there was not another righteous family (it states that the whole population came to Lot's house) in Sodom. Lot tries to reason with them and talk them out of their actions, but the crowd would not listen. Thus, Lot and his family bailed, and God destroyed the people.

But God was willing to give them a shot. Of course, He knew there were only three people of righteousness in Sodom, but He still gave the people a shot to straighten up. Lot asked them to behave, but they refused. At their refusal, they were punished.

This relates directly to our lives. You see, we have all rebelled against God. Just like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, we have sinned against God. At some point, we all lied, stole or had some thought even that was against God's decrees. Just like any lawbreaker, we are guilty; just like any judge, God can punish us as He sees fit. Yet, God doesn't smite us immediately (at least usually, and I don't know of anyone that was taken out by God via column of fire); He gives us a chance to escape our fate.

Just as Lot tried to talk to the crowd, God gave us His Word. The way to avoid punishment is clear: believe in Christ as the Savior of the world and Son of God, and BOOM! You're spared. Isn't that amazing? I mean, when someone wrongs me, I just naturally want them punished. God has any form of punishment imaginable at His fingertips, and yet gives us an opportunity to escape it. Wow! What great mercy and love! God could stop any of our breaths, at any given time, and doesn't. We have the chance to accept that Christ has already taken our punishment, and escape the wrath of God.

Have you taken advantage of this chance? If so, when was the last time you directly thanked God for your second chance? If not, accept the saving power of Christ. Don't waste your one shot; this life is the only one you get to take advantage of God's mercy.

Feel free to leave any questions/statements in the comment slot below, or email me at thefreedbug@aol.com.