Sparing the City By Shining the Light

My word for 2014 is seek. I didn’t want to choose seek. I wasn’t even sure it was a “good” word to pick. And yet just a few days in, I’m finding.

Yesterday a friend posted the daily scripture from YouVersion on FaceBook along with how it applied to her life. When I saw that same scripture yesterday, I thought, “That has nothing to do with seeking. I’m not sharing that today.”

I wrote my post yesterday on seeking God in each moment instead of the past or the future. I used the song “Blink” by Revive to tie together the ideas of numbering our days and not looking back like Lot’s wife.

Later in the afternoon a song I hadn’t heard before came across my Pandora station. Josh Wilson’s “Pushing Back the Dark” lyrics immediately reminded me of the Facebook post I had read earlier, and then when the chorus hit, I was driven back to my devotion time looking at Lot’s wife.

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/fF61jnKDyGg&source=uds

“Whatever you do, just don’t look back. Oh, somebody needs the light you have.”

Lord, where was this song when I did my writing for the day? This would have been the perfect song!

And then I did my Bible study this morning.

How many times do Christians ask the question how long will God tolerate this sinful world? Aren’t we living in a time that is as sinful as Sodom and Gomorrah (S&G)?

When Abraham learned that God was going to destroy S&G for their wicked and perverse ways, he asked Him an interesting question.

“Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city–will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes?” Genesis 18:24

And the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.” Genesis 18:26

This conversation continues through Genesis 18 until God promises to spare the entire city if even TEN righteous people can be found living there.

In the end, the city gets destroyed. There wasn’t ten righteous people in that city. And one that was lead out of the city to safety, looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.

Ten righteous people.

I don’t know where you live, but the “city” I live in has something like 610ish people. Will God spare our city if there are ten righteous people within our boundaries?

The verse of the day on YouVersion when I did my reading this morning:

You are the light of the world–like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14

Why hasn’t God destroyed our city?

Ten people.

Think you aren’t important? Think the small light within you has no affect?

I beg to differ.

Your light, the light of the world, is not only important and effective, but life-giving to those around you. The city needs the light you have within you. The other nine, or more, people within your city need your light, too.

You can’t be hid. Somebody needs to see your light. Shine, baby, shine!

Other posts on the same subject:

Pillar of Salt or New Creation
Back in My Day Is Today
Pearls and Pigs or Lamps and Light of the World

Back in My Day Is Today

“Well, back in my day…”

*we had to walk to school in the snow barefoot, uphill, both ways.

*children were to be seen not heard.

*people respected their elders.

*church services ran by the Spirit not by a clock.

*folks took care of one another.

This list could go on and on forever. Typically the platitudes on it being touted by someone who either is remembering and wishing for a far better time or someone who is bitter and angry at something going on now.

Have you ever wanted to look the person in the eye and say, “Are you dead? Because if not, then TODAY is your day.”

When we hold yesterday is such high-esteem that we disregard today, then we might as well have passed from this life to the next.

If the society, the culture, the times that I currently live in aren’t MY DAY then I’m the one who needs to change.

Whoa. Hold on there, Carrie. Are you saying that I need to accept all of these immoral behaviors running rampant as my own because this is my day?

Absolutely not.

I’m saying we need to seek God’s will for why we were placed here during this specific time in history. I’m saying that we need to be a present in the present instead of an eyesore. 

Teach us to number our days, 

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Relent, Lord! How long will it be?

Have compassion on your servants.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

for as many years as we have seen trouble.

May your deeds be shown to your servants,

your splendor to their children.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;

establish the work of our hands for us–

yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 90:12-17 NIV

Of course we’ve seen times of pain and sorrow, but we have had days of joy and gladness! Our days are not promised to last forever. In the Psalm above Moses mentions earlier that we have 70, maybe 80 if we’re blessed, years to live. How many of them do we dismiss by deciding yesterday was better than today? Or that the world is getting worse for tomorrow?

Just when Abram and Sarai thought they were down to a “back in my day” kind of existence, God brought them a baby. (Genesis 18 and Genesis 21)

Lot and his family were in a land where “back in my day” was looking a lot better, but God provided an escape route for them. Their instructions were pretty simple. Run and don’t look back. (Genesis 19)

How many of us are doing just that?

Looking back at what we’re leaving behind? Looking back at what hurt us and that we’re afraid if we forget we’ll give the power to hurt us again? Looking back at what might have been if we had made different choices.

Run and don’t look back.

But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26 NIV

Her days had been numbered. We could count them in the grains of salt like sand in an hourglass.

God hasn’t chosen to turn me into a pillar of salt today because of my choice to forfeit my TODAY, but have I done it to myself? 

My prayer today as I SEEK: teach me to number my days and to count each one as a gift from You. Help me to see You in everything I encounter–from the mundane chores, to the politics that infuriate me, to the people I come in personal contact with. I want to find JOY in works of my hands that You have established for me. Show me how to find it in the midst of my mess. Amen.

Are you missing moments because you’re too busy looking back? Don’t blink. It’ll all be gone and we’ll wonder what we missed while we were simply musing.

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/IvuxFdM3S58&source=uds

photo credit: Chris Blakeley via photopin cc