Inspired by the blogging of my good friend girltaristhan at http://rockangel.co.uk I thought I’d give this blogging thing a proper go. So yes, I’ve tried the odd bit on and off, but nothing really stuck – now having enjoyed what others have shared and from reading some academic articles on keeping a reflective journal I thought it could be worth a try.
I received today a new daily devotional message from www.biblegateway.com for women; you can find the original at the bottom of here, but please do sign up at the website if it’s something you’d be interested in receiving…
Genesis 19:1-26 is not exactly light reading… it’s quite literally the fire and brimstone stuff of the Bible… the bits of God that we don’t often preach on a 1st date. It’s a challenging text, I’vwe read it before andI always find it challenging. I love the forgiveness aspect of God, the God of Romans 8 where nothing can ever separate us from his love. The God of Genesis 19 appears to be rather different… He found this place on earth so devoid of love, this place which had turned so far away from what God hoped for his creation and God made plans to wipe it out. God had declared this place utterly wrong – he heard the bargaining pleas of Lot but he couldn’t find anything worth saving in the place. (But he still listened to Lot before he passed judgement). If God = love, and God declares a place, a situation, a person, an activity to be not of him… what does that say about what is being judged?
Read the passage and think on it yourself.
“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 that he was joking.”
The Life Application Bible comments on v.14…
Lot had lived so long and so contented among ungodly people that he was no longer a believable witness for God. He had allowed his environment to shape him, rather than he shaping his environment. Do those who know you see you as a witness for God, or are you just one of the crowd, blending in unnoticed? Lot had comprimised to the point that he was almost useless to God. When he finally made a stand, nobody listened. Have you become too useless to God because you are too much like your environment? To make a difference, you must decide to be different in your faith and your conduct.
What I find most frightening, most challenging about this whole passage isn’t in fact the judgement passed on Sodom and Gomorrah, or the punishment – but this verse 14 before any of the sulphur, the fire or brimstone takes place. The nightmare situation here just has to be the moment Lot’s sons-in-law laughed at him. I’m not married, but I believe that in marriage it’s 2 families joining together; in dating and becoming engaged to another I have to believe that you at least respect (even if you don’t immediately become attached to) your future in-laws. Here these young men, these boys laughed at Lot when he passed on God’s warning about what was going to happen to the place they lived…
People laughed when he spoke of faith, and of things unseen.
The powerful message though is that, despite the laughter, Lot stuck to his guns. Lot acted on his faith, he demonstrated the beliefs he held and left the place he knew. The story also shows up a lack of trust in Lot’s wife, failure to trust in God, “to lean not on your own understanding” as in v.26…
Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
She looked back on what God had declared to be bad, and worthless. I feel this passage as I’m about 2 weeks into quitting smoking (& it’s not the 1st attempt) and I have to say I’m taking 1 day at a time and winning. The 1st week was pretty harsh with cravings, but I genuinely feel more bouncy and wide awake through not doing it. But there are moments when I think back, even though I know the risks and consequences related to the habit (it has been declared bad by the auithority, and there is evidence to back that assertion up). But my smoking was almost the thing I was holding back from God, I said to God (essentially) I would do anything for love… but I won’t do that… But as I heard at church the other sunday, God is about surrender, about not looking back. The Life Application Bible comments on v.26 with…
Lot’s wife turned back to look at the smouldering city of Sodom. Clinging to the past, she was unwilling to turn completely away. Are you looking back longingly at sin while trying to move forward with God? You can’t make progress with God as long as you are holding onto pieces of your old life. Jesus said it this way in Matthew 6v24: “No one can serve 2 masters.”
So I’m moving on and not looking back…
I don’t intend all my posts to be Bible based in such a text based way, I hope these will be generally what takes my interest… I’m aiming to get into the discipline of writing semi-regularly and seeing what comes of it. Today this just piqued my interest and seemed like a reasonable kick-off point.
prodigalmomma 