@ Etude- Mrs Lot''s Disobedience of Turning Back

UV 3279/10000 @ Etude- Mrs. Lot's Disobedience of Turning Back
But Lot’s wife, from behind him, (foolishly, longingly) looked back toward Sodom in an act of disobedience and she became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19 v 26


The Lord expects implicit and explicit obedience. We cannot be in two minds and need to give undivided attention to what the Lord asks us to do. Lot and his wife had been redeemed from Sodom that was marked for destruction by fire and brimstone visited upon it by the wrath of God. They were specifically told not to look back at Sodom as they were rushed out of there to safety. Yet Lot’s wife chose to look back with longing at her former way of life, at their lost home and possessions. Consequently, she became a pillar of salt. As believers redeemed in Christ, we too should not look back with regret or longing at our former life. We need to leave it behind, lock, stock and barrel. Instead, we should immerse ourselves in the ways of the Lord.

The story of Lot’s wife tells us that what counts is our redemption. Mrs. Lot’s heart was divided between the world and the Lord. We should not ever turn back to our former selves, our former habits, our former lifestyle, our love of the world and the ways of the flesh. Having placed our hand on the plough of the kingdom of God, we should keep ploughing without looking back. There is no turning back from Jesus. We only need to keep listening earnestly to the still voice of the Holy Spirit and keep moving forward, without pondering on what might have been.

Jesus narrated the story of Lot’s wife to warn his followers that on the Day of Judgment or destruction the things that would happen. One would be saved and one would be left behind of two women grinding corn. Of two men sleeping in the same bed, one would be saved and the other would be left behind. The Lord redeems whom He chooses. True, we are saved by grace and not by either chance or as we deserve it. But our attitudes play a crucial role in His choice. Having been chosen for redemption, we can loose the plot like Lot’s wife by a single wrong decision in a moment. Many of us go through life as if we are a pillar of salt- lifeless, senseless, inert. We are too salty or sanctimonious when all we are asked to do is to add a pinch of salt to the tasteless, hopeless, colourless, powerless, meaningless, purposeless, direction-less lives of people around us so that they too find life tasty, the Lord tasty, the Word tasteful.