Originally posted 5/21
Have you ever thought about how you will be remembered? Will people remember your name? What will people remember about your character?
Lot’s wife is not named in Scripture, but she is well remembered. She is the famous woman who was turned into a pillar of salt. It’s probably not the best way to be remembered. Lot and his family were living in Gomorrah which awas a wicked city. The Lord told them to flee, and not to look back, but they were slow to obey. The Lord took them by the hand.
Genesis 19:13-26 says, “For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.”
Have you ever thought about why Lot lingered? Why was he slow to obey God? The directions seemed so simple. Did Lot not think that it was dangerous living in the midst of all the wickedness? Did he think he and his family could handle it? Did his wife want to stay? Doesn’t God reveal things to us that seem like simple instructions, but we are slow to follow?
Let’s pick up our story in verse 17, “And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” 18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there–is it not a little one?–and my life will be saved!” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
The instructions seemed so simple–flee and don’t look back. I think she would disagree with the idea that it cannot hurt to look. We allow our eyes to look on these things that are not good for us. Once our eyes see it, our hearts want them. That one simple look changed her life and the life of her family forever.
What can we learn from Lot’s wife? We can let the world influence us in ways that are very subtle. We don’t even realize it at first. It can creep into our lives without our knowledge. It’s in the television we watch, the books we read, our Facebook feed, and our conversations. We begin to concentrate on the wrong things; we treasure the wrong things.We must be diligent to resist the influences of this world. God is moving us forward away from the things that entangle us. Don’t look back.
According to Len Woods in his book, 31 Women of the Bible, “An angel warned Lot and his family just before God unleashed his fury. It was then, without actually saying anything, that Lot’s wife revealed everything about her heart and her character, about her values and priorities. As divine judgment rained down, Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt”. (Gen 19:26) p 19.
How can we prevent becoming like Lot’s wife? How can we keep the world out as much as possible? “Lot’s wife serves as a cautionary tale about the deadliness of worldliness. That she relished living in an evil culture like Sodom’s was bad enough. That such a culture lived in her proved to be her undoing.” Woods, p. 20.
Following Christ is not always easy. Our desires often override our good sense. We tell ourselves all kinds of things that rationalize our sins. It can’t hurt to look. I’ll only do it this once. Satan makes us believe all kinds of lies. God has so much more in store for us.
My advice is always the same–stay in the Word of God and pray, Seek His face daily as well as His help to resist the temptations. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
#faith, #Bible, #Scriptures, #Christian Women, #Discipleship, #womenintheBible, #Lotswife