Lot’s Wife – A Deadly Lesson in Looking Back

thumb53

Genesis 17 and 26:  Escape for your life! Do not look behind you….But his (Lot’s) wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”

Similarly, I never understood how Jesus could reprimand a man that wanted to follow Him, just because he requested to see his family one last time before starting a new journey.

Luke 9: 61-62: Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

At face value both stories seem to present dire consequences to what appear to be reasonable actions.  Both Lot’s wife and the prospective disciple sought the ‘the last hurrah’ before the next step in their journey and just like them, we have all been there.  I was there just a couple weeks ago when, after seven years of living in my home, I was moving out and moving on.  While sauntering down memory lane with my ex husband, selectively recalling the good memories we shared, he flashed me that “just for old times’ sake, let’s have one last …..” look. I confess that in that very brief, vulnerable moment, I was tempted but I made the right choice.  The next day during my morning devotion, I stumbled on the above passage in Luke and my eyes were opened to its true meaning and to why Lot’s wife came to such a tragic end.

Pillar-of-Salt_tmb

Photo of what is believed to be the pillar of salt – the body of Lot’s wife

The parallel message that resonates in both stories is that there are harmful consequences in looking back when you are called to look ahead. The old lives that once consumed and seduced us, while not forgotten, should not be recalled with nostalgia or revisited.  The danger in doing so lies in the threat of being sucked back into a life that can bear no fruit or worse yet, can derail you from the path God has chosen.   Nothing can ever be gained from turning back to our former ‘dead-end’ lives.

As Christians, we are new creations in Christ and are called to forsake our old lifestyle and pursue a new life in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

We are called according to His purpose and are expected to forge ahead believing that His best lies before us.

Lot’s wife may not have literally looked behind her, but in her heart, she probably pondered her past worldly pleasures with regret about her decision to obey God’s calling and to leave her old life behind. Unfortunately, she was left behind and what is believed to be her salt encased body (as shown in the photo) serves as an eternal reminder of the perils in looking back .