Looking back can be dangerous. Changing our lives for the better is difficult and the temptation to return to our former way of life is strong. Once you’ve committed to the Lord, we all need encouragement. Lot and his family chose to live among people who didn’t know the Lord, cutting them off from the fellowship of believers. The result was tragic. I’d love to hear your comments!
2MefromHim Devotionals
Looking Back Can Be Dangerous!
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. I was in the 9th grade and I still remember. When we smelled the smoke, we got out of the house. It was 1:30 in the morning and I ran barefoot, in my pajamas, only to realize I left my glasses behind, unable to see the gaping hole in the house. Our home didn’t catch fire and we were all safe. Lot’s family were told to leave Sodom in a hurry, but they hesitated.
Abraham’s nephew, Lot, chose to settle in the pagan city of Sodom. He sat among the elders at the gate of the city, the gathering place of officials and important businessmen. God saw the wickedness and sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and warned Abraham that he would destroy the city, and Abraham. For Abraham’s sake, God dispatched two angels to rescue Abraham’s relatives.
The family was so entrenched in the godless society of Sodom and Gomorrah that Lot was willing to offer his daughters to the men who clamored to have illicit relations with the angels. His sons-in-law refused to heed the angel’s warning. Their lives looked no different from their unbelieving neighbors.
Having two angels lead you forcefully from your home would make most people realize they were in serious danger. However, Lot’s wife longed for the home and lifestyle they were told to leave behind. The angels said, “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!” Something in Sodom held her heart so fast in its grip that she turned to look back. Because her heart held ungodly desires, God turned her into a pillar of salt.
What is God calling you to turn away from without looking back? Do material possessions, alcohol, drugs, gambling, porn, marital infidelity, or homosexuality hold you in their grasp? Perhaps it’s something simple, but it prevents you from becoming all God has in mind for you.
God desires to be the most important thing in our lives. Jesus entreated believers to store up treasures in heaven where nothing can destroy them.
Today, easy temptations are right at our fingertips, by virtue of the internet and television. Keeping our hearts set on godly things requires constant vigilance and prayer. We must run from anything that tempts us away from God and run toward those treasures that cannot be destroyed. Therein lays the safety of our souls.
© Copyright 2012 and July 27, 2017 by Norma Gail Thurston Holtman
Norma Gail is the author of the contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, winner of the 2016 Bookvana Religious Fiction Award. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Historical Writers of America, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 40 years. They have two adult children.
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Website: www.normagail.org
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Book Links:
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God has been speaking to me about this a lot lately. Thank you for the encouragement my friend! 🙂