What I want to concentrate upon is Lot's wife. The angels who appeared to Lot advised him to leave the town and escape with his wife and daughters; and not to look back. As they left, Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
What is the lesson for us there? It is not necessarily that Lot's wife, (who is nameless in the Bible), disobeyed God's instructions. It is because she looked back and longed for her previous life. She looked back with envy, with longing to be back there in the comfort of her previous life and surroundings and friends. She did not want to move forwards to new horizons and a better future as offered by God.
Reminiscent of the Israelites when they left Egypt with Moses and wanted to go back to the "comforts" of slavery where they had plenty to eat and drink.
Jesus reminds us about the dangers of looking back when He says, “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” Luke 17:28-30
And again, in Luke 9:62 we read: Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
There are many people in difficult situations right now and who are afraid to move forwards. It could be a wrong relationship, an abusive environment, addiction, wrong employment, being with a bad crowd, the wrong place in life altogether. And yet, one is afraid to move forwards and to try something new. To walk away and start afresh. People become too cosy, too comfortable, in the situation they are in to bother to move on and forwards hand in hand with God.
I appreciate that many cannot leave their present situations for a variety of reasons; and if so, they need to seek professional advice. But besides that, how many are there who can move on and start afresh and do not do so. Perhaps because of inertia or because they look back with longing for what they are about to leave behind if they move on.
God loves us; and He often speaks to us, opening doors and opportunities to move on, to change, to step forwards in blind faith that He will not let us down; and not to hang on to a situation that has gone wrong. By all means, we can look back and learn from our past; but it does not mean we should remain in our past.
That's what Lot's wife did. She wanted to remain in her past. She looked back and longed to be there again.
God will sometimes lead us to new beginnings. When it is Him speaking He makes sure we know it is Him. Let us listen to His quiet still voice urging us to move on when He calls us. We are always in life in the very place that God wishes us to be; but there are times when He calls us for something new in His service.
Is anyone listening?
I needed to read this, Victor! While my present circumstances aren't awful, I often long for the life I once led. It was truly the Best of times.
ReplyDelete.. but because great intentions often fail me, I'm going to clip and save this post.
There's nothing wrong in looking back with fondness for a past life Mevely. I know that I had some great times in the past, and some terrible ones too. By looking back we learn from the past and we make ourselves happy memories today to sustain and comfort us in our tomorrows. There's nothing wrong with that,
DeleteSome people, however, yearn to go back to their past, and by doing so they get stuck like a pillar of salt and do not move forwards to what God has planned for them. Lot's wife did that. So did the Israelites who longed to go back to the slavery in Egypt. That's why they went round in circles for 40 years unable to find what God had promised them. It was left for the second generation to eventually enter the Promised Land.
You are right, our past was the Best of times. Sadly this is because at the moment the world has lost its moral compass and does not know where to look for it. They have excluded God from their lives.
Thank you for saving/printing this post. God bless you always my friend.
...keep your eye on the prize.
ReplyDeleteThank you for another barbed comment, Tom.
DeleteGod bless.