Don’t Look Back

 "Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”

— Genesis 19:24-26

Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King,

The angels who rescued Lot, his wife, and his two daughters instructed them, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere…” (vs. 17). But when the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah began, Lot’s wife did look back. Her look can be interpreted as “looking intently, longingly, with care or with pleasure.” Lot’s wife wasn’t just looking behind her, she was looking back longingly to her life that once was. She had been delivered from a depraved and morally corrupt life, but yet she still was longing to go back.

Lord, how many times have I unwittingly longed to go back to the very sins You’ve rescued me from? I know there’s nothing but destruction and death back there, but my flesh battles within me and longs to go back to the familiar, even if it kills me. In Luke 9:62, You said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.” In the margins of my Bible I’ve written, “Don’t look behind you. You’re not going that way!”

Lord Jesus, today I choose to look forward, to where You are leading me. My past and all that is behind me has shaped me and has informed me, but it is not ahead of me. I’m not going back there. I’m not returning to what You rescued me from. My old life is gone. I am a new creation and I have been given a new life. Thank You for rescuing me from the death and destruction where I once resided. I’m not going back. I won’t look back.

— In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Retaliation

 "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." — 1 Peter 2:21-23 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, Thank you for leaving me an example of how to respond when I am verbally chastised, insulted, and torn down. You did not retaliate. No deceit was found in Your mouth. When You suffered, You made no threats. Instead You entrusted Yourself to the Father who judges Your accusers justly. Yesterday, a respected young man named Charlie Kirk, 31, who stood for righteousness and civil discourse was assassinated while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Charlie Kirk has consistently been one of the calmest and most polite among us. He listened to questions from his o...
Read more

Nothing Wasted

 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” — John 6:12 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, I am really thankful you said these words. If God is a God who doesn't waste things, then I can be confident He doesn't waste my pain. He doesn't waste my moments of failure. He doesn't waste my heartbreak. He doesn't waste my tears. "Let nothing be wasted" means that God doesn't disregard me and won't waste my life. Gather the pieces that are left over.  On days when I feel like there are a lot of broken pieces of me, I am deeply comforted to know that God doesn't sweep away my broken pieces into the trash can and move on. Jesus, you said "Gather the pieces that left over." Would you gather me up into Your hands today? Would you take the broken pieces of me and hold them carefully in Your hands and remind me they aren't going to be left on the ground...
Read more

Suffering

 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. — Romans 5:3-4 Gracious Lord Jesus, my friend and my King, We glory in our sufferings. The word Paul uses here means to "glory in a thing", "to boast", "to rejoice." He's contrasting his previous thought that we boast or rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We rejoice in our hope of God and  we rejoice in our sufferings. The picture forming in my mind is lifting hands, shouting with joy, as I rejoice in God and then doing the same thing in the midst of my suffering. Yeah. I don't do that. I don't rejoice when suffering comes. I do the opposite. I complain. I sulk. I moan. I am irritated. I am angry. I am resentful. But do I rejoice? No. Yet this is the very thing Paul says we are to do. And it's because of the incredible fruitfulness our suffering brings. Suffering produces perseverance....
Read more