Genesis 19:15–16 (ESV) — 15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying,
“Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away
in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered.
So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord
being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
NOTE: Two phrases
resound--"he (Lot) lingered" and "the Lord being merciful to him
(Lot)." This is our problem, we linger with sin. We do not want to give it
up. We do not want to say "no." Lingering in a sinful environment almost
killed Lot. It did kill his wife and his future sons-in-law. The good news is
that God is merciful. I would be dead otherwise. I am so thankful for the mercy
of God. As I think of our present day Sodom, what am I doing to stand up
against evil? Yes, I must be compassionate, but I must never compromise the
standards of God. The world is full of sin and is slowly destroying itself.
Jesus was very compassionate to the world. He met people in adultery, greed,
and covetous -- and he was compassionate to them. He really was only hard on
the supposed religious people. And yet, as compassionate as Jesus was, he was
firm in his beliefs regarding God's word. His is our example to follow -- be
compassionate to the lost world, but do not change our stand on right and
wrong.
PRAYER: Father, help
me to find and live that balance. I want to be like Jesus. I want to represent
Jesus to a lost and dying world. Even worse, a world that is destroying itself
in its attempt to distance itself from God's world. Oh, to what a wretched state
we have fallen.
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