I am making my way through the book of Genesis and it is taking me awhile because I keep getting caught on different stories and the wonderful truth they reveal about our God! This latest one is the story of Abraham pleading with the Lord not to destroy the righteous with the wicked in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:16-33). It caught my attention that while it says the outcry of wickedness was so strong from the city and the Lord was ready to pour His wrath out upon it, He was ready at Abraham’s first request of 50 people, He was willing to spare the entire city on behalf of those who were righteous. Abraham whittled the number down, eventually to 10, and still the Lord was willing to spare the entire city on their behalf. It was clearly the desire of God not to destroy them but to save them. The problem was that He is a Holy God and cannot ignore sin. God forgives sin, He will never embrace it. Even then, under the Old Covenant He was willing to show mercy and grace because His desire has always been for our freedom. The Bible states that it is His desire that none should perish. I could not help but think, as I read this account, that this same story is lived by many today. While perhaps God is not “destroying” people today like He did then, maybe God spares the wicked rebellious child in other ways on behalf of the righteous praying parents. Maybe it is the few godly students in the youth group that allows the Holy Spirit to show up rather than withholding His presence.

I just wonder if we were to honestly evaluate our lives can we say He would be able to spare others on our behalf?