“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5
I have been following along with an online Bible study of Genesis. Yesterday, I read the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. We could talk all day long about the sins of those two cities or how wicked God considered the inhabitants to be. We could debate the belief that many people consider some our own modern day cities just as wicked as those two.
But, that’s not what spoke to my heart when I read those chapters. What spoke to me was the fact that Abraham who was a righteous man, petitioned God to spare the righteous people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked God if He would sweep away the righteous with the wicked. He asked God if He would spare the city if there were fifty righteous people living there.
The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Genesis 18:26
Abraham then asked, if would God spare it if their were only forty-five, then forty, then thirty, then ten. Each time, God told Abraham that He would spare the city if He could find righteous people there. In the end, God only found Lot to be righteous and so he spared his family by removing them before destroying the city.
I am reminded of Noah, back in chapter six. The entire world was evil and God was going to destroy everything in it. “But Noah found favor with God.” Genesis 6:8
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time and he walked with God.” Genesis 6:9
God was finished with the entire human race and was ready to wash His hands of it, but Noah’s righteousness and his relationship with God, caused God to spare him and his family along with all of the animals.
We live in a dark world at the moment. We could focus on the corruption in our leaders, wars and rumors of wars, terrorism, human trafficking, violence and crime rates. We could debate whether or not we are living in end times. We can even ask ourselves what’s the point of trying to live righteously when so many people around us seem to have turned away from God.
But, then we read the Bible and we find hope. From the very first book, God was looking after the people who walked with Him. We see it with Noah. Then we see it with Abraham where he was able to actually intervene for the righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah.
Noah and Abraham remind us that God is watching over us and that our faith and actions do matter to Him. Every single person of faith can make a difference for someone and we can intervene for each other through prayer.
Yes, the times may be dark, but we are the children of light, and we worship a God who is light; so let’s be vigilant about letting our light shine. Who knows what may be riding on it?
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂