TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE

DEVOTIONAL

by Sandra Chua

In Sunday School and Daily Vacation Bible School (DVBS), the teachers have to make the lessons engaging and fun. Teachers often use props, pictures, or games to convey the lessons. When I volunteered to teach, I designed crafts to make the lessons more memorable. For the Moses lesson, the story was about how Moses was drawn out from the Nile River. The craft was a fishing game. The children made a river bed out of Japanese paper with green paper reeds. A paper Miriam was hiding among the reeds, and the princess was standing by the bank. There were fishing rods with magnets at the tip to draw paper baskets, one of which contained baby Moses. The one who draws out the basket with the baby wins. I hope that helped impress the story on the children.

The passage today shows us first how God reveals His plans to His people. He tells Abraham His plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  

Second, it shows us both His justice and mercy. The Lord sends angels to confirm the reports regarding the wickedness and lawlessness of Sodom and Gomorrah. Actually, with God’s omniscience and omnipresence, He didn’t have to come physically. He can send punishment right away. He is just. He will punish sin. The visit was probably a last attempt to give them a chance for repentance.  

Third, the passage illustrates how patient the Lord is with us. God’s patience is displayed primarily through the intended visit, which I mentioned was probably a last ditch at extending mercy, and through the conversation between God and Abraham with repeated questioning. This shows us how He indulges us when we ask sincerely. 

Amusingly, the fourth is like a subtraction math problem in grade school. It goes, “Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five; will You destroy the whole city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Funny, right?

REFLECTION

How does God’s justice contrasted to His mercy make you both reverent and comforted? 

PRAYER