Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

January 7
Wednesday


THE
INNOCENT MAN

READ:
Genesis 18:22-33
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Shall not the judge of
all the earth do right?
__Genesis 18:25
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John Grisham is well known for his courtroom novels--fast-paced tales of lawyers and victims, authorities and wrongdoers. However, his book The Innocent man is not fiction. It is a real-life story of injustice. It tells of the brutal murder of a young woman and the two men who, though innocent, were convicted and sentenced to death for the crime. Only with the advent of DNA testing were they proven innocent and spared from execution after 17 years of suffering wrongly. At long last, justice prevailed.

Everyone desires justice. But we must recognize that our human frailty makes it challenging to mete out true justice. And we can be bent toward revenge, making a casualty out of the pursuit of it.

It's helpful to remember that perfect justice can be found only in God. Abraham described Him with the rhetorical question, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25). The necessary answer is yes. But even more, His courtroom is the one and only place where we can be certain that justice will prevail.

In a world filled with injustice, we can take the wrongs done to us, submit them to the Judge of all the earth, and trust Him for ultimate justice. __Bill Crowder
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````````````````````The best of judges on this earth```````````````
```````````````````````Aren't always right or fair;````````````````
``````````````````But God, the Righteous Judge of all,`````````````
``````````````````Wrongs no one in His care. __Egner`````````````
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Life is not always fair, but God is always faithful.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Genesis 18:22-33**********

22 Then the men turned
away from there and went
toward Sodom, but Abraham
still stood before the LORD.

23 And Abraham came near
and said, "Would You also
destroy the righteous with
the wicked? 24 Suppose there
were fifty righteous within
the city; would You also
destroy the place and not
spare it for the fifty
righteous that were in it?

25 Far be if from you to do
such a thing as this, to slay
the righteous with the
wicked.... Shall not the
Judge of all the earth do
right?"

26 So the LORD said, "If I
find in Sodom fifty
righteous within the city,
then I will spare all the place
for their sakes."

27 Then Abraham answered
and said, "Indeed now, I
who am but dust and ashes
have taken it upon myself
to speak to the Lord:

28 Suppose there were five
less than fifty righteous;
wold You destroy all of the
city for lack of five?"

So He said, "If I find there
forty-five, I will not destroy
it."

29 And he spoke to Him yet
again and said, "Suppose
there should be forty found
there?" So He said, "I will
not do it for the sake of
forty."

30 Then he said, "Let not
the Lord be angry, and I will
speak: Suppose thirty should
be found there?" So He said,
"I will not do it if I find
thirty there."

31 And he said, "Indeed
now, I have taken it upon
myself to speak to the Lord:
Suppose twenty should be
found there?" So He said, "I
will not destroy it for the
sake of twenty."

32 Then he said, "Let not
the Lord be angry, and I will
speak but once more:
Suppose ten should be found
there?" And He said, "I will
not destroy it for the sake of
ten." 33 So the LORD went
His way as soon as He had
finished speaking with
Abraham; and Abraham
returned to his place.