Look, Look, Look

 

"Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace." (Genesis19:27-28)

Imagine what it would have been like for Abraham to return to the very place where he had asked God to spare the city, and to see the destruction that came from the Almighty on a very wicked group of people. What did Abraham think about this devastating scene? What should our thoughts be when we read these verses today? More generally, how are we to feel about the day of judgment that will come upon the whole earth when our Lord returns? 

Spurgeon's thoughts: "What must Abraham's meditations have been? What should be the meditations of every godly man as he looks toward Sodom and sees the smoke of its destruction? It might do some men great good if they would not persistently shut their eyes to the doom of the wicked. Look on that place of darkness and woe where every impertinent and unbelieving spirit must be banished forever. Look till the tears are in our eyes as we thank God that we are rescued from so terrible a doom. Look till our heart melts with pity for the many who are going the downward road and who will eternally ruin themselves unless almighty grace prevents." 

May God guide us to look, look, and look some more at passages such as this one. Let us feel sadness, thankfulness, and pity, and then resolve to live our lives with a present awareness of His eternal justice and mercy. 

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you and therefore exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him."  Isaiah 30:18