Verse of the day: Genesis 14:16 So he brought back all the goods, and also
brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5 & 6 that sin
reigned in death, but that grace reigned in righteousness through Jesus Christ
(Rom 5:20-21). He then asked the question, “Shall we continue in sin that grace
may abound?” His answer to that almost rhetorical question was, “God forbid” or
“Certainly not”. “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Rom
6:1-2). It amazes me how patient God is with His children, we the born again
believer, and how much grace He shows toward us. Romans 2:4 tells us that God’s
goodness leads us to repentance. Yet, how often we take His grace for granted.
Too often, Christians mistake God’s grace for God’s acceptance, or act as if
God overlooks sin. He does not. He proved it when He poured His wrath on Jesus
for our sake (2 Corinthians 5:21). We see God’s amazing grace at work in Lot’s
life as he is taken prisoner and all his goods taken, but God then allows
Abraham to rescue Lot, who goes back to Sodom with his family and all his goods
intact. It is not long after this that we find Lot back at the gates of Sodom,
back to living the life he was living prior to his short captivity (Gen 19).
Sadly, this is a pattern we see in our own lives sometimes. We put ourselves in
a place we do not belong, we make ourselves vulnerable to temptation, fall to
sin, sin against God; yet, at times God is so gracious as to forgive us with
seemingly no consequences for the particular event. What then eventually happens,
is that we think that God has overlooked our sin, we continue down the same
path, and once again we find ourselves in trouble, looking for God to bail us
out again. With Lot, we later see that the second time he finds himself running
for his life, the consequences are severe, as his wife is turned into a pillar
of salt for disobeying God and looking back toward Sodom, and while taking refuge
from the destruction, Lot’s daughters plot, and involve themselves in an
incestuous relationship with their father (Gen 19:26; 30-37). This time Lot
lost everything. Hebrews 12:3-11 is very clear that God will discipline His
children because we belong to Him, and He loves us. There will be times when
the only way to get our attention, and keep us from repeating sinful behavior,
is to allow serious consequences to come as a result of our refusal to live
righteously as born again believers. Unfortunately, as in Lot’s life, those
closest to him also paid the price for his desire to be in such a wicked place
as Sodom. The sad truth is that whatever we do, whether good or bad, does
affect those around us. God is good, and His grace truly is amazing, but we
must not think that we can go on taking His grace for granted without suffering
some kind of consequence. King David, although a man after God’s own heart,
suffered painful consequences within his family for what he did with Bathsheba,
and what he did to Uriah her husband. In all of this God’s love for Lot, or
even King David, did not waver. God’s love for us will not change or waver, but
He will discipline us, even if it means allowing severe consequences. What
amazes me is that even in the midst of painful consequences, God still shows us
great love and still chooses to help us pick up the pieces and make something
beautiful out of our brokenness. This is the amazing God we serve, and live
for.
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