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Luke 17:32
Let me tell you about my cat. I recently separated from my wife and moved about a mile from where I was living. I have an outdoor cat that had become quite attached to me and I was concerned about him. Well when I moved I was able to capture him and bring him to my new home. He stayed for four days and then disappeared. I found out about a month later that he had found his way back to the old house and was crying in the front and crying at the back of the house for food and probably for the old life. When I heard he was back there I went and recaptured him and am hoping that he will have learned that going back will only bring hunger and pain and not the anticipated joy that once was there. Remember Lot’s wife is a lot like my cat story. She was with Lot in Sodom and had to deal with the temptations of the flesh and the temptations of the natural man. Sodom was a place of real trial for both Lot and his wife. When God decided to send judgment on Sodom God spared Lot and his wife before fire fell. They were told when leaving not to look back. Lot did not, but Lot’s wife did and Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt. This story has a great deal to do with my cat story. If my cat once again looks back to the old life all he will reap is pain and sorrow. If he goes back he will probably die a premature death. If he realizes that where he is now with me is the land of milk and honey he will survive. Because Lot’s wife looked back she was turned into a pillar of salt. Salt has three properties. It stings a wound. It heals and it prevents infection and disease. To remember Lot’s wife is to recognize what salt does for us. When God told Lot and his wife not to look back, it was both a physical as well as a moral looking back. When Lot’s wife looked back it indicated that Sodom had gotten into her spirit and she desired the old more than the new, more than what God had for her. For us to remember Lot’s wife is stinging. There is a fear to disobeying the admonitions of God. If we recognize the sting we will not look back but move forward in the Lord. Secondly it is healing. If we do not cling to the flesh and the natural life of the past, if we do not look back, we will be healed of the emotional as well as the physical infirmities that sin causes. If we live in the presence of God we will be healed. Finally, if we do not look back it will keep us from sinning in the future and we will reap all the blessings of God. It will prevent the devil from finding a door to enter to cause pain and sorrow and sickness. To remember Lot’s wife is to remember that the world, the flesh, and the devil has no place in the kingdom of God. To remember Lot’s wife is to learn, as I hope my cat did, that the past is not where the blessing is, but only in obeying God and keeping your hand to the plough. Remember Lot’s wife. Amen |