Awed Awareness

Today's post Inspired in part by Gen.19

And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand,

 and upon the hand of his wife, 

and upon the hand of his two daughters; 

the Lord being merciful unto him...

Luke 19:16

Lest sluggishly we loiter

Lest apathy besot

Lest we grow numb and thus become

Futile in our thought

Lest we seek sorry solace

In the Sodom of sin

Lest terribly we fail to see

The state that we are in

Lest resolution flounders

Lest influence cajoles

The Still Small Voice that affects choice

That affects deathless souls

Lest we no longer shudder

At evil’s evilness

Or recognize the tempter’s lies

Disguised as ‘happiness’

Lord, wake in us awareness

Of Sodom’s fate, to flee

Lest, like Lot’s wife we mourn that life

And look back longingly

Seize us with holy horror

Of sin’s sad judgment day

Lord, chasten us and hasten us

To repent and obey

Lest the nonsense of notions

And opinions, absurd

With worldly vice, lulls us with ‘nice’

Lord, keep us in Your word

Lord, like Lot when he lingered

Be merciful, I pray

Let your command, like a firm hand

Seize us from Sodom’s sway

Lord, where there is a carcass

The vultures congregate

Lord, wake in us awed awareness 

Before it is too late 

© Janet Martin

Luke 17:20-37

The Coming of the Kingdom

(Genesis 19:24–29)

20When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. 21Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.d”

22Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23People will tell you, ‘Look, there He is!’ or ‘Look, here He is!’ Do not go out or chase after them. 24For just as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will be the Son of Man in His day. 25But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

26Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: 27People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

28It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind. 32Remember Lot’s wife! 33Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed: One will be taken and the other left. 35Two women will be grinding grain together: One will be taken and the other left.”e

37“Where, Lord?” they asked.

Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”