SWORD OF THE SPIRIT                                                                                               1169

“Remember Lot’s Wife”

Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. – Luke 17:32-33

Change happens. It is a constant in our lives. Change is sometimes thrust upon us and other times it is a planned event. Regardless of how change comes we all resist it to some degree.

It has been said that people prefer the certainty of misery over the misery of uncertainty and change always has that uncertain aspect to it.

Therefore, go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, – 2 Corinthians 6:17

God is calling us to follow Him. He is asking us to change – constantly. His call to change begins with our accepting His free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The change process continues as Our Lord wants to sanctify us, cleanse, and purge us of worldliness, and equip us for service in His Kingdom.

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; – Revelation 18:4

Lot and his family underwent a planned change process as they settled their tents in the plains near Sodom and Gomorrah and eventually moved into a house in that wicked city and achieved a place of prominence there since we are told that Lot would take his place in the city gates. Lot was deeply troubled in his spirit by the wickedness of Sodom, yet he remained there. Worldly prosperity, prominence, and prestige had woven itself into the fabric of their lives and so they preferred the certainty of the misery of life in Sodom.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. – 1 John 2:15-17

God was about to bring total destruction to Sodom and Gomorrah and sudden change was thrust upon Lot and his family if they were to be saved. They needed to trust God and move fast without regret, reservation, or reluctance.

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:62

Unfortunately, for numerous reasons, Lot’s wife disobeyed the directive to not look back and perished becoming a pillar of salt. Perhaps she loved the worldliness of life in Sodom more than God. Perhaps she loved her daughters, sons-in-law, or maybe grandchildren that were left behind more than God.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. – Matthew 10:37-39

Where are you in God’s change process for your life?

Are you at the crossroad of salvation, to accept Christ or deny Him?

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – John 14:6 – Acts 4:12

Are you saved but having difficulty letting go of worldly things that the Holy Spirit is prompting you to turn from and trust God more?

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. – 1 Thessalonians 4:3 – Colossians 3:5

I exhort you as Jesus did to remember Lot’s wife. Hold the things of this world with a light touch and grasp with all your strength the eternal life you have through Jesus Christ. Embrace the sanctifying change that the Holy Spirit prompts you to make and do not look back, keeping your eyes fixed of Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. – Philippians 3:13-15