When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the LORD was merciful.
It is I, the LORD, who makes you holy. It was I who rescued you from Egypt, that I might be your very own God. I am the LORD.
“Yes, I know you are innocent,” God replied, “That is why I kept you from sinning against me.”
For God decided to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. He died for us so that we can live with him for ever… —And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight…
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Gen.19:16 NLT; Lev.22:32,33 NLT; Gen.20:6 NLT; I Thess.5:9,10 NLT; Col 1:21-22 NKJV; Rom 5:8-10 NKJV
I once had a bike temporarily stolen from our quiet backyard in our quiet crime-free neighborhood. It was returned only after the would-be thief, being under the influence of one-too-many had a spill. In sharing the incident in our Bible Study group later on I chuckled, remarking that it served him right to have crashed; he got what he deserved! I still have not forgotten how Andy responded. He said I never say that because I remember what I deserved and what God saved me from. Ouch. Andy was saved out of a very non-Christian background. I knew his story well and was in awe of his testimony and his subsequent soft heart. I had never heard a corrective word from him. This was one I needed to hear.
My own story is more that of being preserved from many sins by virtue of having been sheltered early on and reared in a Christian family and extended family. My sins were of the more insidious sort–pride and self-centered thinking, self-righteousness, and want of compassion. God continues to remind me that just because I have not been involved in ‘sins’ that draw the attention of the Law, does not mean that I have an ‘in’ with Him automatically. We are all enemies of God by nature, not because He doesn’t love us, but because we have turned our backs on Him in exalting ourselves and our own ways of doing things. We are born heading the wrong direction. But He pursues us, he snatches us back from dangers we only vaguely perceive. He rescues us. And He keeps on leading us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. I am grateful.
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple; when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Ps.116:5-7
–LS
When my oldest sons were moving into their teen years, and I was beginning to be anxious about the baton of faith passing to them well, I had a few moments of wishing that I could get saved all over again — but this time from a life of debauchery and addiction. It seemed as if it would be easier to demonstrate the change Jesus makes in a life if they could see that sort of transformation instead of their church-lady mum.
Instead, of course, we all battle the run of the mill sins you mentioned. So thankful for grace.
The disturbing thought about these ‘run of the mill’ sins is how closely they resemble the very sins that got Lucifer kicked out of heaven! To be rescued from these is also a miracle! Yes, thankful for grace and that ‘our God is merciful’. (I’m memorizing Ps. 116 these days…)