Abraham – The Peace Maker

Abraham – The Peace Maker

Now, long back there lived a man of God named  Abraham, there were two cities named Sodom and Gomorrah. The people who lived there had turned away from God. They didn’t care about God. They didn’t care about doing what was good and right. In fact, they did just the opposite. They thought it was great fun to do what is wrong. Abraham had a nephew named Lot. Lot and his family lived in the city of Sodom. They cared about God, and tried to do what pleased him. Now, the evil in Sodom and Gomorrah was so bad that it was like a terrible, rotten smell that reached all the way up to heaven. And so God decided to put an end to it.

At that time there were three men who had visited Abraham. After they had gone on their way they came to a hill, and from that hill they could see the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  One of those men was God himself, and when He looked down on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah from that hill, He knew it was time to get rid of the evil there. But He also decided He wouldn't keep anything from Abraham. And so God went back and told Abraham what He was about to do.

Abraham took a deep breath. He was about to argue with God! “What if there are some good people living there,” Abraham said. “If you destroy the city, they will die too. That wouldn’t be right.”
So God said, “If you can find fifty good people there, I won’t destroy the city. I will save the whole city for the sake of the fifty good people.”
Abraham took another deep breath, “You are God, and I am just a man,” he said, “And you don’t have to listen to me at all. But,” he said, “what if there aren’t quite fifty good people living there? What if there are five less than fifty good people living there. Will you destroy the whole city just because of five people?” “If I find forty-five good people there,” God said, “I will not destroy the city.” 
Then Abraham said, “What if there are only forty good people there?” God said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.” 

Then Abraham said, “Please don’t be angry with me, Lord. But what if there are only thirty good people there?” God said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
Abraham took a deep breath again. “What if there are only twenty good people there?”  And God said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.” 
Then Abraham said, “Let me speak just one more time. Please don’t be angry with me. But what if there are only ten good people there?”
God answered, “For the sake of even just ten good people, I will not destroy the city.” 

Sometimes people are mean to each other, and they hurt each other. Bad things happen. But that’s not how God wants things to be. That’s what sin does. Sin is when we do what we want, instead of what God wants. And when we do, bad things happen. Sin ruins things. Someone always gets hurt. Maybe not right away, but someone always gets hurt sometime. And it only gets worse and worse. But it's not God's fault, it's ours. But bad things happen, and people think it’s God’s fault. They think God can’t be good if bad things happen. And then they can’t believe God loves us. That’s the terrible thing about sin. It keeps people away from God. That’s why God hates sin so much.

Look at this man Abraham,  he was just a human but he started pleading God for the city not to be destroyed. Have we ever stopped a quarrel between our family members or our friends. Have we ever tried to make peace with a friend who has did us some wrong. Have we ever prayed to God asking for our friend’s peace.  When we do so, God calls us His children. So when we make peace among others, do  you think we won’t have the Lord’s Peace with us. We surely going to possess that peace in us too. So what are we waiting for. Let’s go and make peace in whatever situation possible. And so we will be called the children of God.