Congratulations to all of you who have been able to keep up with the reading! First week done! And if you did not get every lesson done, don’t feel discouraged. Just keep picking up on the lesson for today and either don’t get bogged down with trying to catch up, or do it later when you can find time! Be encouraged today by how enormous His grace and love is!
Abraham sitting in his tent door, watching the world go by! – Does that sound familiar? But this is a great day (how many great days did Abraham have – not all that many recorded in his 70 years? [But every ordinary day is an exceptional day when God is in it!!]), because he is visited by angels, sent by God to confirm that Abraham and Sarah only have a year left until God fulfils His own promise to them! Not sure of Abraham’s response, except to go on later chatting with God about His concerns from Abraham’s caring perspective for others, but I understand Sarah’s thoughts of the incredibility of what God will do – been there and have learned to just tell Him, “It too good to be true, but please, Lord, do it seeing You have set Your heart on it!” But even then, I still have the feeling of wonder at how beautifully wonderful God is and how unlikely the things He can do!”
Abraham begs God down to 10 in “doing what is right!” Feel challenged to see if I have ever felt strongly and bold enough to beg for what seems the impossible salvation of someone I have grown to love!
But again, as Jennifer mentioned before, (Abraham had exposed Sarah to incredible danger!) – Lot – another example of someone who let others down by even offering his daughters to the crowd to do whatever they like with them! “Are you crazy and truly know what you’re doing, Lot?” But whom am I to talk, who has on occasion only thought of my safety and wants? So it seems to me that life is not easy when one is called on to protect those of family at personal cost & with unending unselfish efforts! But the end of the story of this family, only shows what disastrous results from not being responsible and claiming God’s promises for those whom we should love the best (and are God’s best personal gift to us!)
One last thought – a question – the men of the city on the surface seem to be treating the angels as men, wanting to have a homosexual relation with them (a step down from fornication/adultery according to Romans 1)), but the men were in reality angels – spiritual beings, not human – and it seems to me that when human beings stray towards relationships which are connected with the spiritual world, God’s patience may be near the end?