Category: Devotions

My granddaughter has been staying over the Christmas period, and it has been a joy. I should say she is a bundle of joy. One of the things I’ve enjoyed is making her laugh. Her laugh has melted my heart. So I try again and again to make her laugh, to hear the sound.

Laughter, of course, can mean many things.

I’ve met people in different cultures of the world who laugh even when they’re angry. In my culture, we laugh at times when we cannot believe what we have heard or seen.

When Sarah’s visitors first announced that she would give birth herself, she laughed. It was a laughter born out of bitterness and pain and not a little cynicism. However, all that would change; the reason for the laughter would take on a wholesome one, for God would do what He said He would do. Sarah was going to name the newborn, Isaac, his name importantly meaning ‘laughter’, and this time, this old lady was indeed filled with perfect laughter at what God had done for her.

For, thankfully, it still does mean unbelievable joy.

“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. ² Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. ³ Abraham gave the name Isaacto the son Sarah bore him. ⁴ When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” ⁷ And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” (Genesis 20 v 1-7)

God said it, and God did it.

Bitter laughter has become wondrous laughter, and Sarah knew this would be a shared experience for many. Her impossible hope is now a reality.

I have seen many people roll their eyes and laugh at the thought that God would fulfil His promise to them. Why? They have waited so long.

Is this you? Are you waiting? For healing? For a breakthrough? For wisdom?

Will you laugh with cynicism if what is in your heart is raised in a conversation? God transforms bitter laughter into blessed laughter, and this new year to come could well be your year of thankful laughter.

Can you imagine having a child who, every time you called him, you were saying, ‘Hey, laughter, come here’, or something similar?

Sarah’s laughter is echoing towards you today. Hold on, be patient, don’t let go of hope, laughter is on its way to you, and it is in the purest form, full of joy and thankfulness.

Have you heard someone say something like this, “The people outside the church have better standards than those within it”?

If you have, you will understand this story of a king who didn’t fear God as Abraham did, yet had more integrity than the father of faith.

“Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. ⁹ Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” ¹⁰ And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?” ¹¹ Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ ¹² Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’ ¹⁴ Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.” ¹⁶ To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekelsof silver. This is to cover the offence against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, ¹⁸ for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.” (Genesis 20 v 8-18)

The king who had no faith, in a kingdom that had no fear of God, had a conscience that the cowardly father of the faith didn’t have. Abraham had thrown his wife under the bus to save himself, bringing disaster upon another family. How did he justify doing this deception again? Only that he presumed the pagans had morals lower than his. In doing so, not only was he prejudiced against the people of the city, but he had also decided not to trust God for protection.

But he was wrong.

Are we ever guilty of the same charge as Abraham? Guilty of the half-truth. Sarah was his step-sister. This half-truth/half-lie was certainly misleading. The truth was that Sarah was his wife, and he had withheld the truth.

It reminds me of a Pastor overseas that I found had been blatantly lying. I confronted him, and he said, “I wasn’t lying, I was just withholding the truth.” It was technically accurate but totally misleading.

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God steps in, and the king doesn’t commit adultery with Sarah. He then responds with a generosity that, to say the least, is surprising and reveals that in all humans there is the capacity to tap into the image of God.

What does this strange story tell us?

• Religious identity doesn’t automatically prove moral superiority.
• Half-truths are lies.
• You can be a person of faith and yet, through fear, become a coward.

Years previously in Egypt, Abraham claimed his wife was his sister to save his life. His fear caused him to lie. The person in authority could kill him for his beautiful wife.

He is now temporarily settled in Gerar, and we are going to read that he hasn’t got over the anxiety in his life. This man of God, who walked with God and had promises from God, is again filled with such fear. But perhaps we know all too well what this is like.

Time goes by, but we remain the same anxious person.

“Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, ² and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. ³ But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” ⁴ Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.” ⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.” (Genesis 20 v 1-7)

“She is my sister.” King Abimelek gets dragged into this mess through no fault of his own. But in a dream, he learns (and we do) there is a difference between sin committed in ignorance and that through rebellion. God stepped in and prevented Abimelek from sinning any further. Isn’t that an amazing grace with a pagan king? God stepped in to stop the mess even before it was created. There was no adultery committed and no resulting judgment; there was no disaster because God stepped in and made a way out even before the king knew he needed one.

If we were God, maybe we would have brought about a different ending. At the very least, giving Abraham a good telling off, perhaps. But God strangely and very graciously says the liar who is a prophet will be the one to intercede, stand in the gap and in effect save the king.

Abraham isn’t disqualified from his ministry as a prophet or an intercessor.

Grace never makes sense to us.

Maybe, like me, you have sinned in the same way twice and maybe because of fear. Don’t worry, you are in alignment with the father of faith, and God’s faithfulness is greater than our failures.

You may have thought you were being wise to protect yourself, and yet lies and deception can mean that others suffer the consequences we never intended.

The father of faith had feet of clay, and we are glad he did, for we know these anxious self-protecting plots we choose: a small lie here and there, all for a good cause. But every time we need a gracious God to step in to sort the mess before things implode.

Abraham stood at a crossroads, the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah behind him, cities he had tried to save. His nephew Lot’s family was shattered, with only Lot and his two daughters surviving. How could he process the events that transpired?

You might find yourself in a similar situation, grappling with family troubles and outcomes that defy your hopes, despite your prayers. Disturbing memories linger, and unanswered questions cloud your peace.

“Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while, he stayed in Gerar, ² and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.” (Genesis 20 v 1-2)

 What did Abraham do?

• He moved on – He got back to his own purpose in life, to explore Canaan. This is still the invitation today for us to explore all that God has for us.
• He moved into – He went into a new place. Sometimes we need to turn a new page, bring new people into our lives, and do something different.
• He lived between – He was between two places. This best sums up Abraham’s life. Earth was not all there was. “He was a stranger in a foreign country” (Hebrews). That’s how we should live our lives with an eternal focus; we are in between.
• He stayed in Gerar – It was here that he sinned in precisely the same way – “She is my sister”. But something happened here in this place where he stayed. His sin affected his son, who learnt from his father and did the same thing to his wife, Rebekah, in the same place, in Genesis 26. Sometimes, the decisions we make out of fear lead the next generation into the same sin.

 Abraham’s journey teaches us that moving forward is possible, but how we move matters.

I haven’t purposely chosen to write about Lot’s story during the Christmas period; it was simply because, as you know, I am reading through Genesis.

This is an alarming read for a Boxing Day morning!

In the last two days, many have had a welcome break from the stresses of life. Perhaps they have already returned to reality. If not, some will tomorrow and the day after. Christmas doesn’t erase our worst moments, nor does it pretend trauma doesn’t distort our choices. That’s not it. It announces that God has entered human darkness and redeemed a generation from even the choices their ancestors made long ago. He still does.

 Here’s the story:

^“ Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. ³¹ One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. ³² Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.” ³³ That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. ³⁴ The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ³⁵ So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. ³⁶ So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. ³⁸ The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonitesof today.” (Genesis 19 v 30-38)

Yes, it’s horrible. But let’s look again. Lot’s daughters found themselves isolated in a mountain cave, convinced they were among the last people on earth. According to their thinking, their father was the only man around. Civilisation as they knew it had ended. So, how was their future? They came up with a disturbing plan. Get their father drunk and become pregnant by him. Lot wasn’t in on the plan; he was, in that sense, a victim of their traumatised and catastrophic choice.

Years later, the Moabites and the Ammonites, enemies of Israel, would emerge from these children of Lot and his daughters.

This isn’t a story the Bible celebrates or endorses. It simply tells us that in an ancient cave, certain decisions made the destruction even worse. There are many in such caves today trying to answer this question: when things are desperate, what boundaries will we cross to find a way forward for ourselves?

“Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. ²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.” (Genesis 19 v 27-29)

Abraham went back to the place. That place was where he had pleaded for the righteous people of the two cities, if any could have been found. But the people have all gone. Judgment came. In the place of his intercession, it seems that God hadn’t listened to his cries. But then see how things change in v29.

God remembered. Who? Not Lot. That would have been what we would have written. But no, God remembered Abraham and his intercessions. God had heard Abraham. God had remembered, and God had rescued.

At this moment, Abraham doesn’t know Lot is safe. All he sees is the ruins and the smoke.

Christmas often comes to us in the same way, unexpectedly arriving in the midst of ruins. The first Christmas was not announced with fanfare to everyone. In the place of powerful empires and religion, God remembers, even when everyone had forgotten or turned their gaze away from a simple town of Bethlehem.

I have just watched the Netflix series Man v Baby, and I can recommend it. It is a modern tale of how, at first, a baby was somewhat of a nuisance, but how, in the end, it brought so many together.

This Christmas Day, we celebrate the birth of the Christ-child, born in a manger, in a story that is at first hidden from many.

We may be taken up with so many things today—fears, pain and loss. It is easy to be blinded by the smoke and the ruins. It is easy to see what has gone and not what has come.

At the start of v27, it says, “Early the next morning …” Many can see the smoke today. The smoke may be rising, but friends, so does the sun, and sometimes at the same time. We often live with partial vision. God remembered Abraham, and He remembers you also. This is the message coming out of this important day.

Christmas morning symbolises the rising of the Sun of Righteousness amidst the smoke of our broken world. The Light shines in darkness, right in the midst of it. The baby in the manger represents God’s remembrance—proof that He hasn’t forgotten us, even when we only see ruins.

Lot chose the small city of Zoar to escape the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. The instruction was not to look back. He, his wife and his two daughters must continue to move forward without returning, hesitating, and even turning to look at what they once had.

“By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19 v 23-26)

As we celebrate Christmas, we remember that the first Christmas was about God doing everything necessary to save us, sending His Son into our world. But salvation, then and now, requires a response. The story of Lot’s wife reminds us that receiving God’s gift means fully embracing it, not clinging to what we’re being saved from.”

What was her name? We don’t know.

Why did she look back? We don’t know.

But Jesus tells his disciples to remember Lot’s wife, in the context of telling them not to turn back but to be saved at the end times (Luke 17:32).

When we look at this story of the saving of Lot’s family, we can see how God had to do everything to save them. Lot’s sons-in-law pledged to be married to his daughters, disbelieved him when he told them of the destruction; Lot himself hesitated to leave the city he loved and the angels had to grab hold of him, his wife and his daughters to drag them to safety; and now his wife on the brink of safety, hesitated, and in what seemed a harmless move, became disobedient, and what was pouring down from heaven in judgement, fell on her.

Just as the angels helped Lot’s family reach safety, God went to extraordinary lengths to save us. He didn’t send just a message or a prophet; He came to us Himself. The manger is a symbol of God’s endless pursuit of humanity, doing whatever it takes to rescue us. It’s essential to recognise that Mary had to say yes, Joseph had to trust, and the shepherds had to leave their flocks. Salvation has always required a response.

Salvation needed to be embraced fully. Was it a look of longing for Sodom? Was she reluctant to leave the corrupt city? Did she have other family members there? Was this about grief and loss? Was this simply a struggle to move into a new chapter in her life when all that was familiar to her was being destroyed? Do we have sympathy for her?

Lot’s wife teaches us that we cannot step into God’s new thing while clinging to the old. At Christmas, we celebrate that ‘the old has gone, the new is here’—but only if we’re willing to stop looking back.”

I pastored a man for several years. He was a regular church attender but didn’t engage with many people except one lady. He looked so much older than he actually was because he clearly didn’t look after himself. In many ways, he was unkempt, and being a heavy smoker, his health wasn’t good either. Yet he struck up a relationship with this lady, who also struggled with ill health. They became best of friends, and he enjoyed, in some ways, being a carer to her. However, sadness was always part of his demeanour, and I never really knew why until the end of his life. He never let me visit him at his home, but I went there when he passed away. Stepping into his house was an eye-opener. How had I missed what was really going on in his life? It wasn’t that his home was a mess, smelly and dirty. I went upstairs to his bedroom, and his wardrobe was filled with his late wife’s clothes; they were even hanging outside the wardrobe. All around the bedroom were pictures of his wife wearing these same clothes that were hanging, standing still, announcing the loss every morning that he woke and every night that he slept. It was then I understood. I saw how he struggled to move forward when everything familiar in his life had gone. He couldn’t let go. He wouldn’t move forward into the next chapter. His care for the other lady in the church was an attempt at a purpose, but each day he would go home, close the door, and be consumed by the death of his wife. He never moved on.

Lot’s wife stood as a memorial.

Sometimes the past can hold on to you even as you try to move forward. Looking back, and for whatever reason, not letting go can do permanent damage to our lives.

The story might seem harsh, but it does show us dramatically how we can become paralysed when we need to move forward.

What are we looking back on when we should be looking ahead? What clothes are still hanging in the wardrobe of our lives because we are afraid to let go?

Not only did Lot’s wife become a memorial, she became a monument, reminding us all that salvation requires us to keep looking only ahead. Salvation requires our response, a willingness to leave the old life behind and embrace the new.

In a world of fake news, do you find it difficult to believe what is being announced? Further to this, there is the temptation to discount the truth because we are turned off by the packaging it comes in. Sometimes it is hard to believe what we are hearing. We can laugh it off with a roll of the eyes, hesitate and not respond quickly enough, or even think negotiating or arguing with the one bringing the news is the right course of action. If anything of this resonates, then we are ready to read these verses that reveal how people can respond when crises land.

“The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, ¹³ because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marryhis daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. ¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” ¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” ¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,please! ¹⁹ Yourservant has found favour in youreyes, and youhave shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰ Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.” ²¹ He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. ²² But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.) (Genesis 19 v 12-22)

Here is the news: the end of the world is nigh (well, the city anyway).

That is impossible, so thought the sons-in-law of Lot. This is exaggeration at best and hysteria at worst. That moment when they decide not to believe would cost them more than they realised; they would die.

Yet isn’t this the Christmas story too? Who could believe such news? The packaging seemed all wrong. A baby born to be King?

The Apostle Peter spoke of the story of Lot and saw the mercy and the redemption that Christ has brought.

“… if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials … (2 Peter 2 v 7-9)

This was undoubtedly not Lot’s righteousness. He hadn’t done anything righteous. And of course neither have we. Lot was influenced by the city he lived in. And we, too, are influenced by the society we live in. Our sins may not be as dark as Lot’s, but we are foolish, and we fail. We are not righteous. Yet Lot’s soul was tormented; he had conviction. And we, too, feel that conviction when we sin. The Bible calls us (who put our faith in Him) righteous, as Peter does about Lot, not because of our actions, but because of the Lord’s. It is His grace and mercy. This is the redemptive story.

This is the heart of Christmas: God calling us righteous not because we’ve earned it, but because of what He has done. The baby in the manger would grow to become our righteousness.

Lot hesitated. What was he thinking about? Was it what he would lose in the destruction? What were these doubts? We know the story, and we know he will later look back on what he lost with drastic consequences. Here, he hesitated, and the angels grabbed his hand and dragged him to safety. Mercy sometimes looks like being dragged away, even when we hesitate.

Remarkably, Lot is selective about his next home. He opts for a town instead of the mountains. Within God’s mercy lies a sense of flexibility. This story emphasises mercy rather than judgment—mercy that guides us to safety and patiently waits until we feel secure.

This Christmas, mercy reaches out to us. Will we let go of what doesn’t bring life and embrace true Life? Will we shrug off the announcement? Will we pause at the door? Will we settle for lesser things? Or will we accept the hand that heaven extends? The hand that once was small enough to fit into Mary’s hand and which became the hand that was nailed to the cross, and now the hand strong enough to pull us to safety even when we feel paralysed?

Mercy came down at Christmas, and it continues to wait for us to find refuge. This Christmas, don’t hold back. The angels are at the door, the rescue is genuine, and mercy is extending its hand. Will you take it?

Warning! This isn’t a nice story to read. We would most likely not dwell on the verses, seeking some devotion.  

The summary is this:

• Lot, knowing what might happen to the strangers if they remained in the city, persuaded the visitors to stay in his home. It was his rescue mission.
• The men of the city hear of these visitors in Lot’s home and bang on the door, for they want to do what, in effect, is gang-rape.
• Incredulously, Lot offers his virgin daughters to the men in place of the male visitors. How could he do that?
• The visitors (angels) strike the mob with blindness and pull Lot inside to the safety of his home. It was their rescue mission.

“The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ² “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night, and then go on your way early in the morning.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” ³ But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. ⁴ Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” ⁶ Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him ⁷ and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” ⁹ “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. ¹⁰ But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.” (Genesis 19 v 1-11)

This is a story of two rescue missions that mirror the Christmas message:

1. Lot’s failed rescue:

He tries to save the strangers, but only through compromise. Sodom has warped his judgment, and his rescue idea nearly ruined his daughters’ lives. This act to rescue his visitors was obviously evil in itself, but at least it was trying to save them. He realises he cannot save anyone.

2. The angels’ successful rescue:

Just when Lot’s misguided heroism is about to destroy him, divine hands reach out. The angels pull him back inside to safety. They strike the mob with blindness. The rescuer becomes the rescued.

This is the Christmas message: We cannot save ourselves. We need divine intervention.

The problem of living in an evil, corrupt society is that we become stained ourselves—our righteousness watered down, our judgment compromised. We become implicated in the evil culture around us. Are we so stained? Is our judgment so compromised that we’ve actually become part of the culture we live in?

Like Lot, we might have good intentions, we want to protect the innocent, stand up against injustice and do what’s right. But like Lot, our methods are often warped by the darkness we’ve lived in too long.

Christmas offers this hope: Even when we’re morally compromised like Lot, even when we’re surrounded by darkness like Sodom, even when our own rescue efforts fail spectacularly—divine rescue still arrives.

God pulls us toward safety. Light breaks into our darkness. The rescue mission we couldn’t accomplish becomes the rescue mission God completes.

God entered our darkness to pull us to safety—this is the essence of Christmas. “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). We can’t save ourselves; our righteousness is flawed. Let divine hands pull you to safety—the mission is to receive.

In this passage today, we seem to be stepping into an argument between Abraham and God. Foolish as this sounds, it appears to be an invitation from God to step forward and stand in the gap between holy justice and the human need for mercy. As we approach Christmas, when God’s mercy took flesh and entered our world, read this not as if Abraham were trying to convince God to be merciful, as if He weren’t. But Abraham is being led by God into the deepest part of His character to find mercy indeed—the same mercy that would one day be wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.

“The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. ²³ Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not sparethe place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” ²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷ Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, ²⁸ what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.” ²⁹ Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” ³⁰ Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ³¹ Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” ³² Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.” ³³ When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.” (Genesis 18 v 22 – 33)

This is a powerful example to all intercessors out there. To stand in the gap and to plead for the innocent. Abraham, for some reason, stopped at ten. That wasn’t God’s decision; it was Abraham’s. Could he have kept going, perhaps to even one?

What we do know is that Abraham’s intercession gives Lot and his daughters a chance to escape. Sometimes intercession doesn’t save a wreckage, but it rescues survivors in it.

Intercession is more than ‘bless her, bless me’ prayers. It is to know what it is to hold onto God and contend with Him for someone. It is to wrestle the angel till dawn as Jacob did; it is the widow persistently and annoyingly calling to the judge for justice; it is Abraham, with his own failed story, daring to come to God for the sake of a city.

Here’s the challenge: what type of prayers do you pray? Safe ones? Or do you dare to beg for mercy for others?

At the end of this exchange, God leaves, and Abraham walks home. What was he thinking? He was carrying yet another promise from God. Ten righteous people will be saved. He has managed to save ten. I wonder if he regretted stopping at ten. I wonder if he was concerned that there were not ten righteous people in Sodom.

But what Abraham had done (though he would never have understood this) was give us all a challenge. We all should intercede with more rigour and daring. We can all change things for people by seeking God for their lives.

This Christmas, as we celebrate the most extraordinary intercession of all, God stepping into our world to stand in the gap for humanity, let us be inspired to pray with the same daring hope that marked this ancient argument between God and His man.