A Tale of Two Cities

“Abraham returned to the place…
where he had stood before the Lord.
[where he had prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah]
[where he had asked for the cities to be spared…]
[if just five righteous people could be found.]
The land was smoking like a furnace.

When God destroyed these cities…
God remembered Abraham
He sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow...

It had happened on the day of judgment that…
The angels urged Lot to hurry, saying,
‘Arise, take your wife…
your two daughters…
lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.’
And while he hesitated,
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...” [1]

I’m thankful that the Lord interceded for me when I was in Sodom and Gomorrah. Not in these cities geographically, but there spiritually! What a terrible place to be! Lot and his family had a hard time pulling out even though they knew they were living in a place destined for destruction. Abraham is a metaphor for God in this story. He interceded for his nephew Lot.

“Thank you, Lord. for getting me out Sodom and Gomorrah. You have been very merciful to me. Please keep me from ever looking back as Lot’s wife did… to her own destruction.”

“As Jesus sat at the table in the house…
many tax collectors and sinners came and…
Sat down with Him and His disciples.
When the Pharisees saw it,
They said to His disciples,
‘Why does your Teacher…
Eat with tax collectors and sinners?’

“Jesus… said to them,
‘Those who are well need not a physician,
but those who are sick do.
Go and learn what this means:
‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’
For I did not come to call the righteous,
I came to call sinners, to repentance.”

“Jesus went about… cities and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom,
healing every sickness and every disease...
When He saw the multitudes,
He was moved with compassion for them,
Because they were weary and scattered,
like sheep having no shepherd.
Then He said to His disciples,
‘The harvest truly is plentiful,
but the laborers are few.
Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest…
To send out laborers into His harvest.’” [2]

“Lord of the Harvest, Jesus Christ, please do move us to pray for lost souls and to go out everywhere to harvest them for an eternity with You in Your Heavenly City.”

[1] Genesis 19:27-29, 15-16
[2] Matthew 9:10-13, 35-38