Jesus Christ gave a strong, but short and to-the-point warning in Luke 17:32(NLT). He said, “Remember Lot’s wife.” For this warning to hit our hearts and minds as impactful as it must, we need to know a little bit more about Lot’s predicament. He was Abraham’s nephew, and when Abraham left his own father’s land in obedience to God’s command, Lot went with him. Both men became very wealthy, with vast resources and limited space. Their employees began to bicker, so to remedy the space issue, they separated. Lot found himself in a terrible area, inhabited by incredibly sinful people. This was bad enough, but Jesus reminds us that the worse of it was the fate of Lot’s wife. She was in the middle of a rescue like no other, but she couldn’t get with the program and did something that turned her into a monument of what it means to be tragically stuck. Jesus warns us to make doubly sure this never happens to us.
During biblical times, the Pharisees were considered the upper echelon of Jewish society. Males were schooled in the synagogues from a very early age and raised to be leaders in the community. They held tightly to traditions, laws, and rituals; this was their way of life. It serves notice to us that a person can be ultra-religious and still greatly miss the mark when it comes to pleasing God and following His heart. The Pharisees hated everything Jesus Christ represented. Jesus is the truth! He brought light, and the light exposed their darkness. They didn’t like it and tried everything they could think of to undermine Jesus and the impenetrable power and authority he carried. Of course, they were never successful.
The Pharisees would ask Jesus questions publicly to try to get him to say something that was against Jewish law. This, they thought, would give them reason to put him behind bars and shut down his ministry. In Luke 17:20, they asked him “When will the Kingdom of God come.” They thought there might be a concrete sign that would alert people, so they’d get their houses in order and get in line with the program. This is what many of us look for today. We want something tangible to undergird our faith. Jesus wants us to know that the thing that undergirds our faith is the actions we take to follow God’s Word.
God’s Word leads us to transformation. Transformation is the name of the program! Heavenly Father tells us in Romans 12:2(NLT), “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” We are being perfected daily by renewing our minds to the mind of Christ. As we do this, there will be some people, relationships, circumstances, thoughts, emotions, habits and patterns that must be released. This is non-negotiable, and it is something that slips by us when it comes to the quality of our lives. Our level of fulfillment and wholeness is proportionate to the amount of God’s Word we live. The more we hold on to the thing we need to let go, the further away we are to the mind of Christ.
This is why the Apostle Paul placed that extra warning to us in Romans 12:3(NLT), where he said, “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” The quality of life we enjoy is measured by the faith we have in Christ. And Christ tells us very plainly that surrendering and releasing certain things is necessary if we plan to press forward in him.
This is an amazing time of transition! We must be mindful that we can’t carry anything more if our arms are already full. Jesus Christ warns us in Luke 14:27(NLT), “And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.” Newness is upon us, but if we have a mindset anywhere near Lot’s wife, we’ll let this new level in growth and blessings pass us by.
Lot’s family were given specific instructions by the angel messenger sent by God to rescue them. Those who were utterly sinful in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were being destroyed, and part of the instructions from the messenger was a command not to look back at what was happening there. Sometimes the greatest victory and deliverance is in our attentiveness to the small details. Our lives are busier than ever, and in the haste of busyness, we overlook what is staring us in the face. The things of God must be our focus. We must pray and ask Him to show us what needs to be released. We must be patient as He does, so that we can press forward to new levels of His grace and blessings and never look back.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Press Forward”, written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
