Verse
of the day: Genesis 19:26 But his
wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
What will it
take for us to learn that looking back is one of the greatest hindrances to our
walk with the Lord? There are great consequences for those of us who return to
the life that was left behind when we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. The
purpose of becoming a born again believer is to become a part of God’s family,
allowing Him to change us, making us more like Jesus, leaving the former life
behind, and giving our lives to the Lord for His purposes, and His glory. This
one verse says a lot about both Lot, and his wife. First, and foremost, we see
the consequences of, once again, what happens when we unequally yoke ourselves
in relationships. When Lot set out with Abraham, it does not mention at all that
he was married. This tells us that it is likely that he found his wife in Sodom,
and she was not likely equally yoked to him in his beliefs. Secondly, it is
obvious from her actions in looking back, that she had a great desire to be in
Sodom, and was likely looking back to possibly see if there was anything that
she could salvage. There is that possibility that she was concerned for family
that was left behind; however, those that were left behind had the same
opportunity to escape the judgment upon them, just as Lot as his family did. We
know that the possibility that her heart was on the things of Sodom, and her
possessions, and not on obeying God’s command, by what Jesus said in Luke 17:31-32,
in reference to the day that the Son of Man is revealed, “In
that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house,
let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the
field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.” The fact that Lot and his wife were obviously in two
different places as far as their faith, cost their family dearly. We also see
the consequences of what happens when we choose the world, and what it has to
offer over salvation in Christ Jesus. In Matthew 16:26 Jesus said, “For what
profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or
what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” The application that we
see for us who know that Lord is that it is a dangerous place to be in when we
turn back to our old life after coming to know the grace of God in our lives
that has brought us the salvation of God. 2 Peter 2:20-22 tells us, For if,
after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of
the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and
overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it
would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,
than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own
vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
One of the worst things we could do to ourselves as God’s children is to return
to the old ways and habits. It is destructive to us, and those we love. There
is nothing that the Lord has led us to leave behind that is worth going back
for. In our walk with the Lord, we are to focus on what is ahead, leaving what
is behind right where it belongs…in the past. Luke 9:62 tells us, But Jesus
said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God.” The Apostle Paul wrote this in Philippians 3:13-14, Brethren,
I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for
the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us strive to
move forward, leaving behind that which is of no use for the furtherance of God’s
work in our lives.
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