Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Gen. 18:25.

This statement was made in connection with God's announced plan to destroy the cities of the plain. God is not only a God of love and mercy but a God of righteous judgment. Abraham found it difficult to believe that in these two cities there were not to be found some righteous people. How could God destroy them, if there were such people? God must do justly. Abraham's statement is a declaration of his trust in and reliance on God's character. He would not distrust or doubt God. He knew that God would do the right thing.

We are to trust God not only in good times but in difficult times. To live this way is a mark of spiritual stability and maturity. For us who live in the time of the end, Christ made it clear there would be difficult days, very difficult; that we would have nothing much to go on but faith in Him. His forecast of world conditions in our time should lead us to expect that, before it is all over, we will lose everything we own; that ''only our bread and water will be sure."

Beyond that our future is certain. The only forecast that makes life worth living is what we get from Christ. If we are to triumph, we must be strong in faith as Abraham was, knowing that Christ will do the righteous thing. "Without any weakening of faith he [Abraham] contemplated his own body as good as dead . . . and the deadness of Sarah's womb, and never doubted God's promise . . . , but, strong in faith, gave honour to God, in the firm conviction of his power to do what He had promised" (Rom. 4:19-21, N.E.B.).

As surely as God destroyed the cities of the plain, so is the coming end of our world. The world is not going to be the easiest place to live in. We are to look for a better country. We should invest the utmost and the best we have in the new earth, asking for no rewards here but only to belong to Him, to serve Him with all our hearts and lives. God will do the right thing. Let us venture to live our lives and fashion our conduct in this world as did the Man of Galilee, loving everyone in it to the end that we will join company with all those who look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.