SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 09-04-2006
My Worship Time Focus: Abraham Ministers to the World
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Genesis 18:23-33
Message of the verse: “23 Abraham came near and said, ‘Will You
indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 ‘Suppose there are fifty righteous within
the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of
the fifty righteous who are in it? 25
‘Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the
wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?’ 26 So the LORD said, ‘If I find in Sodom
fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their
account.’
27 And Abraham replied, ‘Now behold, I have ventured to
speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes. 28
‘Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the
whole city because of five?’ And He said, ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five
there.’ 29 He spoke to Him yet again and said, ‘Suppose
forty are found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not do it on account of the
forty.’ 30 Then he said, ‘Oh may the Lord not be angry,
and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not do
it if I find thirty there.’ 31 And he said, ‘Now behold, I have ventured to
speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not destroy
it on account of the twenty.’ 32 Then he said, ‘Oh may the Lord not be angry,
and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?’ And He said, ‘I
will not destroy it on account of the ten.’
33 As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the LORD departed, and
Abraham returned to his place.”
The concern
of Abraham for Lot and his family can be seen in these verses as Abraham
intercedes for the people in Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham was not arguing with the Lord in
these verses, but was trying to protect his nephew Lot, because Abraham knew
that Lot was a true believer even though he
was not living like one.
These
verses show the importance of what a small group of believers can do for if Lot
would have been able to even win his family to the Lord then the entire cities
would have been saved, however as it will be evident to see in the next chapter
that Sodom was in Lot in the way that it should not have been and his
missionary work there was not at all successful.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: The thing that I can take away from this
section is that of Abraham’s concern for the lost, for the picture of the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is a picture of the judgment of the lost at
the end of this age, and the intercession of Abraham for that lost world to the
Lord is a picture of what I should be doing for lost people in this time in
which I am living. I should not get so
caught up in the things of this world that I am living so that the world has
more of an affect on me than me on the world, which was the case of Lot .
The Word of God has brought conviction and challenge to my
heart as I read and studied it this morning.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Not to be conformed to the
world, but to be ready to be a wittiness to the world, and not to be ashamed of
the Gospel. To allow the Lord to
continue to teach me contentment and also to have my steps directed by the
Lord.
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