He Seemed to be Joking

..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. Gen 19:14 NIV

Imagine a man with his house on fire and his neighbours are calling out to him to come out and save himself. The man told them, ‘Please stop your joke.’, and promptly went back to bed. Similarly, many count it as a joke when issues of sin, repentance and salvation are discussed. They think that God does not mean what He said in the Bible concerning judgment for sinners, Heb 9:27, Rev 20:15. They think they will somehow get away with sin. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained…” Act 17:30-31 NKJV 

Joking with Danger
Just like today, there were accounts of some people in the Bible who were supposed to be serious in the face of danger but took it all as a joke, and it proved fatal to them.

1. Lot’s Sons In-Law: Sodom and Gomorrah were about to be destroyed by fire due to their sins. The angels on the assignment gave Lot a small time to warn his family in the city. “So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.” Gen 19:14 NKJV. They perished with the city.

2. Samson: Samson played this game of lack of seriousness with Delilah, even when he knew the woman was on a mission to destroy him. Samson ended up losing his eyes, ministry, and eventually his life. Jdg 16:1-31

3. Noah’s Generation: Apart from Noah and his family, all living souls were destroyed in the flood, except for the few animals that allowed Noah to take them into the ark.
.
Whether one denies or accepts the existence of God does not change the fact that God exists, and will demand an account from the soul of man on Judgement Day. “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” Rev 20:12 NKJV. It is time to stop striving with our Maker and enter into His salvation that He has graciously provided for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” 
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” Rev 20:11-12 NKJV.

Prayer
O God my Father, forgive my spiritual carelessness and lack of seriousness. I repent today of every rebellion against you. I want to live a New Life in Christ Jesus, and I receive the grace to do this now, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

#InGodsImageBlogs
#joke #careless #danger #judgment #books #BookofLife #sodomandgomorrah #samson