15 At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!”
16 When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful:
26 But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.
This morning when I read about Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah, I saw something that I hadn't seen before. God showed His mercy even when Lot hesitated. Lot had been given an opportunity to flee from evil, and he hesitated. Instead he had to be dragged out of the city, so that he wouldn't be destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah.
The second thing that I realized was that Lot's wife looked back. As a child, in Sunday School, I was taught about Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt. I always understood that it happened because she disobeyed God and looked back. This may have been one reason, but I believe that there was an underlying reason as well. Lot's wife was looking back to the sinful life that she had led. She was not willing to let it go, even though God had saved her from it.
When Christ set us free from the bondage of sin and death, it was as if we were pulled out of Sodom and Gomorrah. The command is that we don't look back. I think that it is wise that we remember what God has done for us, however we don't need to look back longingly at what we could have had. We need to look forward to what He has in store for us.
Yesterday I had a talk with a co-worker that I worked with 3 years ago. I was told that there was a position open back where I had worked. It sounded really good, however that is not where God has been leading me. I was looking back longingly to what I remember and what I knew. I would be relying on my own strength, not on God's. This verse today was what I needed to hear.
Thank you Lord for the messages that you give from Your Word.
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