Monday, January 7, 2008

Genesis 18,19

19:15,16a "When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, 'Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.' But he hesitated."

God is merciful. He assured Abram He would spare the lives of a multitude of unrepentant, vile sinners for the sake of 10 righteous ones, but even that couldn't be found in Sodom and Gomorrah. Despite that, there was one righteous man, and God's mercy compelled Him to send a rescue party to save Lot and his family. Yet Lot hesitates. We can only speculate what was tying him to the wicked city. Let's brainstorm:

It could have been:
-His possessions
-Friends (obviously not believers)
-Good business
-A reluctance to leave the familiar

When God comes to rescue us from temptation or sin, do any of these reasons make us hesitate? Or do we "abhor what is evil [and] cling to what is good"?


If you are a believer, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. If you are a human, you sin. And if both of these are true for you, the Holy Spirit will convict you, warn you, and send flashing lights and sirens in the back of your mind when you come close to sin. I know I've come face to face with an opportunity to sin and I know I should, like Monty Python, "run away! run away!". Yet, I hesitate. Then I stumble. Then I feel like trash. Then I come crawling back to God in a pathetic heap. I am thankful God keeps taking me back, but WHY DO I HESITATE? I think I need to change my view of sin from a sad venture into doing wrong things to a view of total detestation. God loves righteousness and hates sin, so I need to view these things the same way. If I can get to that point of absolutely abhorring and hating sin, I'll be less likely to hesitate.


Lord, help me to recognize when You are leading me to safety and help me not to hesitate. Help me to hate sin and love Your holy ways.

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