“Remember Lot’s Wife.” – Luke 17:32
“This is your reminder that we will meet at Jason’s Deli at 12:30 on Thursday …”
I speedily scanned my e-mail and proceeded to something else, knowing I’d recorded the date previously on my calendar. I looked forward to this gathering and had planned on attending ever since I’d been invited.
That Thursday night, I came across this e-mail again. Abruptly I realized, “Oh no! I missed the luncheon!” I’d thought mistakenly it was being held on Friday when it had been scheduled for Thursday all along. Great. I’d been a total “no-show” and let my friends down–not an enviable position to be in. Though my apology was graciously accepted, I continue to regret disappointing others.
Remembering accurate information affects daily life. Despite diligently trying to keep track of pertinent details, sometimes I fail. That’s part of being human. Yet when it comes to spiritual matters, God’s Word instructs us to be mindful of certain instances. Intriguingly Lot’s wife is highlighted as someone to remember. Why?
Lot’s wife was attached to this world. As she and her family fled a flaming Sodom and Gomorrah, she couldn’t resist wistfully turning back. Still desiring the life she was leaving behind, she neglected genuine appreciation for God’s deliverance. Immediately she froze into a pillar of salt–always to be remembered as one whose love for this world surpassed affection for God.
Lot’s wife remains a warning to us today. Where is our loyalty? Our longing? Our love? The Lord knows. We might know Biblical truth and practice all the religiously correct actions. But God knows our hearts. He sees into the deepest recesses and understands where our affections reside. “THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME” (Matthew 15:8). Does this searing declaration describe us? What people or things do we cherish more than Him?
May God mercifully rescue the American portion of His church from our anesthetized, apathetic state! Instead of craving the comforts, conveniences, and entertainments of this world, may our hearts YEARN FOR HIM. Only Christ can satisfy. Forever He endures as “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Let us never forget the destruction from which He’s saved us by His blood.
Instead of being paralyzed by attachment to this world, let’s be mobilized by a passionate love for Christ.
“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.” – Philippians 3:8
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