And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. Genesis 19: 16, NKJV.
Merciful God, as we continue our journey of faith, please be very near to us, and help us to see grace in whatever form it takes. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth we pray. Amen.
I have felt impressed to continue with this topic a little bit longer. I wonder what the LORD has in store for us. I need all the divine wisdom that I can get! Yesterday we observed God’s grace at work in the midst of human hesitancy. The Bible tells us, that “while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters[.]” He, Lot, was the head of the home. No doubt, the rest of the family looked to him for direction. His lingering could have caused the demise of the entire family.
At this point, I would like to make an appeal to fathers: “Dads of the world, your families are looking to you for guidance. We are looking to you to help us make good and wise decisions. We value your opinion. God has made you the head of the home. God expects great things of you dads! God has faith in you! He wants you to become acquainted with Him, so that He can depend on you to do His bidding. He says He has “chosen” you. He “knows” that you can do it (Genesis 18: 19)! His “grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12: 9). In spite of Lot’s vacillation, the angels brought them out of Sodom, alive.
Note also, that God has given to everyone, the power of choice. Others may exert an influence on our lives, for good or for evil, but only we can determine what we will make of our lives. The angel also took hold of the hand of Lot’s wife, but she decided to look back, even though she was warned not to. Grace can only save us if we are willing to accept it! May God help us, that our decision-making might be seasoned with grace!
[T]he LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. Let us spend a few minutes picking apart this portion of our Scripture. Who can fathom the mercy and love of the infinite God? No matter where we find ourselves – God’s mercy will find us! Hallelujah! We cannot fall too low, nor climb too high, where His mercy cannot reach us! Even though Lot was surrounded by evil, and injustice, slothfulness, depravity and immorality, of all sort, God’s mercy found him. and “brought him out and set him outside the city[!]” That is the beauty of God’s grace, it not only saves, it also secures! When He brings us “out of the miry clay, He sets [our] feet on a rock to stay!” He is a God who will finish the work that He began (Philippians 1: 6)!
God’s grace is always available to the human race, because there is nothing that God would rather do, than save us! In recent years I have heard people talking about “cheap grace.” I do not subscribe to the concept, because I believe that there is no such thing. It is either grace, or it is not! If it is cheap, then it is not grace; because grace is priceless! Let us make good use of it!