Looking Back

We need to follow our Lord's admonition to remember Lot's wife, for she was one who did not forget her possessions even in a time of the greatest peril. She was not guilty of having retraced a single step towards Sodom. All she did was look back. But how revealing was that backward glance! Does it not speak volumes concerning the condition of her heart? Watchman Nee

I was thinking about Lot’s wife this weekend.  Sometimes people of the Bible come to my mind and when they do I take that as a clear sign that I need to study that person to understand what God may be trying to tell me. 

So as I thought of Lot’s wife I remembered how she looked back.  As I was studying the story of Lot I read how Abram and Lot had their herds in the same area and there was not enough land to sustain them all so Abram told Lot to choose where he would live.  To one area were trees and verdant hills and to the other were the crowded centers of commerce and trade. 

Lot chose to head down to the crowded centers.  He pitched his tent toward Sodom.  The sad part is that where he chose to live would be the end of a good portion of his family.  Living close to the evil city of Sodom, his wife and children became enamored with the city and all of its evil. 

Lot’s wife came to a tragic end because of a divided heart.  When she was told not to look back on Sodom when God destroyed it, she did anyway.  We are often guilty of the exact thing that Lot’s wife was guilty of.  We love what the world can provide and in doing so our heart becomes divided.  We think we can have both; what the world has to offer and what God offers. 

       

When I think about how God handles disobedience it scares me. I am often drawn into the very thing that Lot’s wife was guilty of.  When my heart is divided I am not following His will.  If I had been Lot’s wife and I was walking away and leaving some of my family behind, I probably would have looked back too.  In some ways I think it would be because I doubted God would do what he said and in other ways I think it would be the sorrow of leaving family members behind to be destroyed. 

God wants our wholehearted obedience to Him.  He doesn’t mince words with us and if our heart is divided, we are living in disobedience.  The difference in our circumstances and Lot’s wife is that we will not be turned into a pillar of salt.  We will live for eternity in a place much worse.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am often guilty of having a divided heart.  I look at what the world can give me and think it is what is best for me.  You are the One who can provide what is best in my life and the only requirement is that I obey You with all my heart and soul.  Help me to remember this when the world tries to draw me away from You.  I want to live in complete obedience.  Help me to not be tempted to look back, as that can be my downfall.  

   

Scripture: Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”

Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:18-26