Hold back evil. Promote good. Wherever you are. 

That’s definitely something Jen and I try to do anywhere we find ourselves, and it was pretty easy on this hike out in nature. Since hiking is one of our favorite things to do together, there really wasn’t any evil to hold back and so much good all around us. It can be more challenging in everyday life surrounded by people and circumstances that aren’t as easy as a hike on the Appalachian Trail, but it’s so important.

Edmund Burke famously (and accurately) said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

Let’s never be “do nothing Christians.”

Genesis 18:23 says, And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

God was about to bring some much-deserved judgment onto Sodom. Abraham was hoping to find enough God-fearing people that judgment could be avoided Even after lowering the number, there were not even 10 righteous people!

What a convicting statement about that society! But I think it’s also an amazing statement about how God’s people can hold back judgment. We have the opportunity to help restrain evil and promote good. 

We can’t plead in person with the Lord for the city where we live, but we can shine the light. We can be the restraining and preserving influence we are called to be. 

And we can live a life that holds back evil and helps everyone around us know that Jesus loves them and wants to save them from their sin. 

Today’s Bible reading is Genesis 18.