Do You Look Back?

But Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26

The lightning hit our house with a startling jolt, so bright I could see the sparks through the window blinds. When we smelled the smoke my dad said to get out of the house. It was 1:30 in the morning and I didn’t waste a second. I ran barefoot, in my pajamas, only to realize that my glasses had been left behind. Everyone else could see the gaping hole in the front of the house except me. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, had chosen to live in the city of Sodom. He was so successful that he was among the men who sat at the gate of the city, the place where the officials and important business men sat. But God had seen the wickedness and warned Abraham that he would destroy them. He was so willing to show His love and grace that, for Abraham’s sake, He sent two angels to rescue Lot and his family.

 Lot’s family had become so much a part of the society of Sodom and Gomorrah that he was willing to offer his daughters to the men who were clamoring to have illicit relations with the two angels! His sons-in-law refused to go. There was no evidence that their lives were any different from those of their neighbors.

 Being led out of the city forcefully by two angels should have shown Lot’s wife they truly were in serious danger. They were instructed to, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” Yet something back there held her heart so tightly in its grip that she had to look back.

 What about the society we live in today holds on to your heart? Are there things that draw you: material possessions, alcohol, drugs, gambling, porn, marital infidelity, or homosexuality?

 Jesus said to store up treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed. Today many things that tempt us are right at our fingertips by virtue of the internet and television. We have to work at keeping our hearts set on the things above. Run from the things that tempt you away from God and toward those that cannot be destroyed. Therein lays the safety of your soul.

 © Copyright 2012 by Norma Gail Thurston Holtman