The Right Direction (When Lot hesitated)78 [Gen 19:15-26] / Anne's Faith Column

 

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The Right Direction

/ When Lot hesitated78

[Gen 19:15-26]

 / Anne's Faith Column 

 

/ By Priscilla 

 

Just before God destroyed Sodom,

'Lot' and his family were able to

escape through the hand of angels

to the safe city that Lot wanted.

 

 

However, while fleeing,

Lot's wife, who could not

shake off the comfort

of the world

 

 

and the lingering

affection for the world 

neglected God's warning.

 

 

She looked back at the land

where she had lived.

 

 

That's why she ended up

becoming a pillar of salt.

 

 

Lot was defenseless

in the sudden reality of the

impending judgment on the

city where he had lived.

 

 

In the corner of his heart,

he longed for God, but 

he hadn't had deep

communion with the Lord

through spirituality

 

 

and had lived a life that

was just assimilated into

the flow of the world.

 

 

Abraham knew that God

was going to judge Sodom

and Gomorrah due to the

wrath of God,

 

 

and he prayed earnestly 

to God for his nephew Lot.

 

 

Finally, his petition

was answered.

 

 

He was able to receive

a promise from God that

He would not destroy them

 

 

if only there were ten

righteous people there.

 

 

There was an opportunity

for Lot's family to escape

from the destruction

by God's free grace.

 

 

However, even his sons-in-law

were addicted to worldly life

that they could not be saved

from the destruction in the end,

 

 

considering God's warning

as a joke even in desperate

circumstances.

 

 

This fact tells us that we

must not be intoxicated

with the world.

 

 

When the Lord comes

suddenly,  if we are deeply

immersed in the world,

 

 

we too will receive

shameful salvation like Lot,

who hesitated and who

was defenseless.

 

 

And also we can realize

a lesson that we too can

break out of the rank of 

salvation through his wife 

who had become a

pillar of salt. 

 

 

When we read today's scripture,

we can find that Lot hesitated

for a moment, just at the time

when he had to rescue his family.

 

 

Why did he hesitate without

moving immediately?

 

 

Man's wickedness

became great and judgment

was reached, and the angels 

definitely warned him to flee

immediately.

 

 

Nevertheless, he hesitated.

Could it be that he doubted

the angels' message?

 

 

Or was it not that he

needed time to organize

his thoughts

 

 

because he 

couldn't shake off the

 lingering affection for the

many things he had?

 

 

If we allow the worldl to

enter us in the same way

and indulge in it,

 

 

we will unknowingly get

used to it and fall into

addictive sins.

 

 

Even if we ourselves deny

and make excuses that

we are not so, unless we 

are set apart from the

 worldliness,

 

 

we will lose the will to get out

of the swamp of the world's 

dark forces and end up

in self-destruct.

 

 

Even though we, who

follow Jesus, were born

in our mother's womb

 

 

and live in a world that is

filled with temptations, we 

are people of a different

status who live with the

hope of heaven.

 

 

So, what should we do to

move in the right direction

God wants us to go?

 

 

1) Do not set our mind

on the world!

 

 

This earth is not our 

hometown, we nor our city,

at which we should finally 

arrive, but a path through 

the course of life.

 

 

Therefore, we must faithfully

carry out the life entrusted to us

and should not set our mind

on the world excessively while

we live on this earth.

 

 

2) By confessing Jesus

as our Savior, we come to

Justification by faith.

 

 

In the process of sanctification,

where we are receiving life

training

 

 

and trying to become

like Jesus, we too, like 'Lot',

are inevitably mixed with people

with  wickedness in the world,

 

 

but we must not hang out

with them and enter the

path of sinners.

(Psa 1:1-6)

 

 

 A clearly distinguished

attitude to our lives

must be flown from within,

 

 

and the life-changing

element of becoming

a child of light in darkness

must come out of our inner

beings naturally

 

 

and familiarly

in any situation.

 

 

Our fellowship and intimacy

with God will be the source 

of our lives.

 

 

Then, each of us born again

through Jesus Christ will be

filled with the Holy Spirit

each day

 

 

and bear the fruit of the

Holy Spirit.

 

 

In the end, we come to hope

for the day when we reach

the stage of Glorification

that the Lord desires.

 

 

We will be able to become

children of God who radiate

light, that is, people of God.

 

 

And when the Lord

counsels and comes on us

suddenly one day according

to the revelation of God

the Holy Spirit,

 

 

we will be able to become

valiant warriors who r

un to God. 

 

 

Like Gideon's warriors

who ran out shouting that

this is the day of salvation

and the time of God's favor.

 

 

That's why when God's

command comes on us,

we will come to run

immediately without

looking back

 

 

without any

lingering affection

about the world.

 

 

3) We must overcome

the lusts of the flesh and

ask the Holy Spirit to live 

as people of the spirit.

 

 

We must become God's

soldiers who are chosen

 

 

and used as weapons

of righteousness for

God's good work.

 

 

We must rebuild the temples

of the Lord that have been

destroyed on this earth,

 

 

and fight against the crowds

of darkness who are trying

to harm God's camp by

following our Commaner

Jesus Christ.

 

 

Then, with the help

of the Holy Spirit, we will

overcome the world

 

 

and become holy saints

who fulfill our individual

duties.

 

 

On the day we see

the Lord coming again,

we will cry out:

 

 

Maranatha!

Come, O Lord!

 

 

Prayer

 

 

Lord!

 

 

Thank you for giving me t

he opportunity to look at Lot

and look at myself again.

 

 

Change me into a person

of spirit who is always awake.

 

 

Amen

 

- To Be Continue - 

 

 

2010/ 05/24

 

 

/ By Priscilla