✝ Daily Encouragement (11/01/24) "Linger Or Flee?"
Published: Fri, 11/01/24
Updated: Sat, 11/02/24
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(Click refresh or reload for current message) Friday, November 1, 2024 ![]()
There
are many farms
along the
Buffalo Valley
Rail Trail.
Those that
especially
catch our eyes
are farms that
have livestock
grazing in the
fields.
Click on photo to enlarge "Linger Or Flee?" Message summary: I don’t want to get comfortable in “Sodom”. I don’t want to linger when God directs me to flee. I don’t want to cling to that which God tells me, “Let go”. Often in life we have the choice between lingering and fleeing. Rather than lingering like Lot, let us be among those who have “fled to take hold of the hope offered to us” (Hebrews 6:18). Listen to our message on your audio player.
"As
morning
dawned, the
angels urged
Lot, saying,
'Up! Take your
wife and your
two daughters
who are here,
lest you be
swept away in
the punishment
of the city'.
And while he
(Lot)
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
19:15,16).
“Now flee from
youthful lusts
and pursue
righteousness,
faith, love
and peace,
with those who
call on the
Lord from a
pure heart” (2
Timothy 2:22).
I
am resolved no
longer to
linger,
Charmed by the world’s delight, Things that are higher, things that are nobler, These have allured my sight. I was discussing current events with an individual who supports the liberal/progressive worldview. Whatever new wave of godless idiocy is introduced he will eventually be in favor of it as long as it becomes liberal dogma. We were discussing one of the newer expressions of perversity and he admitted that he just didn’t know what to make of it. However he eventually accepted it due to his rejection of the foundational authority of Biblical truth. A New Testament verse that describes such a person is found in Ephesians 4:14: “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine”. Periodically in these messages we have observed the tendency for the slide into evil to be incremental. By “incremental” we’re speaking of small steps, although the steps are turning more into a downhill free fall all the time! This doesn’t happen all at once, but with repetitive exposure, what once shocked our senses and offended our ears or even broke our hearts becomes tolerated, then acceptable and eventually celebrated. The next step is that the once shocking, abnormal behavior becomes normal and the behavior that had been normal may very well be touted as abnormal! The record of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is very instructive here. Following the dispute between Lot’s herdsmen and Abraham’s herdsmen regarding where the animalswould graze Abraham graciously gave Lot the choice. Lot made a critical choice when he chose the more lush grazing land in the valley for his flocks (Genesis 13:10). This led him to pitch his tent near Sodom (Genesis 13:12). Even at that time the Scripture gives this indictment: “Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord” (Genesis 13:13). Yet Lot did well and in time he married, had two daughters, and eventually his house was built in Sodom (Genesis 19). Lot, now residing in Sodom with his family, had grown accustomed to the ways of the native people. After all, he was the alien, so adjustments do come. Let’s be careful wherever we reside that we are able to differentiate local culture from sinful behavior. God’s appointed time of judgment had come upon the Sodomites due to their deviant, sinful behavior but, in answer to his Uncle Abraham’s fervent prayers, Lot and his family would be spared. But it was painstakingly hard for Lot to leave. As destruction of the city loomed it was time to leave. The angels of the Lord urged Lot to flee, " As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city".
But
instead of
obeying and
fleeing Lot
lingered.
“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).
Consider the
telling words
in the daily
text, “he
lingered”
(NIV) “he
hesitated”
(NASV) “kept
procrastinating”
(Voice)
“dallied”
(CJB). Matthew
Henry’s
commentary
notes, “Lot
lingered; he
trifled. Thus
many who are
under
convictions
about their
spiritual
state, and the
necessity of a
change, defer
that needful
work.”
Lot had grown very comfortable in Sodom. Had he grown so accustomed to the wickedness that it dulled his spiritual senses and he no longer saw sin for what it was? Just consider his depraved offer of his own innocent daughters up to the lustful residents of Sodom who were demanding to have his angelic guests. It would seem that one concession led to another which led to yet another until any remnant of spiritual convictions no longer mattered to him. His prosperity and prominence at the city gate had prevailed over his piety. Lot’s moral values were wretchedly twisted. He had lost the power of moral persuasion and later in the chapter we see this twisted condition in his wife and daughters as well. Genesis 19 is one of the saddest chapters in the Bible, showing man’s pathetic condition in apostasy. Consider how Lot’s wife’s body remained as a pillar of salt, a lasting monument of rebellion toward a holy God and an illustration used by Jesus, then later in the chapter the sordid account involving his daughters followed their departure to safety. I don’t want to get comfortable in “Sodom”. I don’t want to linger when God directs me to flee. I don’t want to cling when God tells me, “Let go”.
Two
great commands
in the New
Testament
state: “Flee
from all this,
and pursue
righteousness,
godliness,
faith, love,
endurance and
gentleness” (1
Timothy 6:11).
“Now flee
from youthful
lusts and
pursue
righteousness,
faith, love
and peace,
with those who
call on the
Lord from a
pure heart” (2
Timothy 2:22).
Often in life we have the choice between lingering and fleeing. Rather than lingering like Lot, let us be among those who have “fled to take hold of the hope offered to us” (Hebrews 6:18). Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13 Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Today's
Suggested
Music and
Supplemental
Resources "I Am
Resolved"
Listen
on YouTube
Dailey and
Vincent Today we will share some photos of our visit to the Lewisburg area on Wednesday. Lewisburg is a quaint town along the west side of the Susquehanna River about 90 miles north of us and the home of Bucknell University. In the morning Brooksyne especially enjoyed visiting Street of Shops, an antique market housed in an old factory. Then we rode on the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail to Mifflinburg and back. ![]()
As
we began our
bike ride we
stopped by the
Lewisburg
Farmer's
market which
is along the
trail. Since I
have a basket
on my bike we
were able to
buy some fresh
locally grown
produce.
Nothing like
walking
through a
rural farmer's
market to see
all kinds of
people!
![]()
Pumpkin
display at
Reiff's
Greenhouse
neat
Mifflingburg
Pumpkin
display at
Reiff's
Greenhouse
neat
Mifflingburg
Pumpkins
at entrance to
Reiff's
Greenhouse
neat
Mifflinburg.
Click on photo to enlarge ![]()
The
Vicksburg
Buggy Shop
near
Mifflinburg
still makes
buggies for
the Amish and
Mennonite
communities.
This white
buggy is used
by a group
called the
Nebraska Amish
that live in
the Big Valley
we visited
last
week.
Click on photo to enlarge
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