After I read this chapter I thought of a Jerry Springer episode. There are a lot of CRAZY and WEIRD things happening in this chapter. I in no way am going to try and tackle everything that happened in this chapter, but I will share what stuck out for me the most.
I feel kind of sorry for Lot ’s wife. The Bible is unclear of why see looked back, but she paid the ultimate price for that mistake. Who knows maybe she was devastated that people she knew were going to be destroyed, or maybe she wanted to see God’s justice reign down on the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, but whatever the case was the angels told them not to look back, and she disobeyed and paid the price.
One of the hardest things for a Christ follower is we have a tendency to look back. We get caught looking back on our past sins or looking back on the things we can no longer have. We spend way too much time wondering what might have been or saying things like, “if I could go back and change that, I would.” Sure most of us would enjoy a “do over” every now and again, but that’s not happening. We have to accept that our past is just that.
Satan knows his enemies. Satan knows that most Christ followers are not all of a sudden going to turn from a life of Christianity to a life of hell. This is one of Satan’s best weapons against us. He uses our past to stifle our growth and commitment level. He will whisper things like, “you’re not good enough” and “you’ve made to many mistakes to be used by God.” We have to remember that Christ’s death gives us freedom, just like the angels were doing for Lot ’s family. He gives us freedom from our past and His freedom should also remind us of our future.
John
After reading this particular piece of scripture and your comments I can relate so much. So many times you look back on the mistakes you have made and continually beat yourself up over them again and again. Forgetting that God has wiped the slate clean and forgiven you. Right now we are going through a very rough patch but I know I have a God that will not leave me or forsake me. James 1 2-4
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I started to read this chapter, John, I thought of Jeopardy and how I want a do-over. I would get Zoar this time :)
ReplyDeleteI never thought of a "Jerry Springer" Episode until I read your Post. Then after that I thought what a great Analogy.
ReplyDeleteIt was a surreal experience reading this chapter together with my husband and 15-year-old son. Son says to think of it as reading the Bible to him, not "I can't believe what I just read to him!" My reaction is outrage toward Lot and his visitors who were willing to throw Lot's daughters to the wolves. For us mothers it is hard-wired to put our children first. Good fathers and real men protect women from harm. It made me wonder why God chose to save Lot on the Ark.
ReplyDeleteDebbie, just to be clear, Noah and the flood would have happened long before Lot was born. Easy mistake to make with so many names and places in a short span of time.
ReplyDeleteSometimes in the Bible people God "what they deserved" in a bit harsher way than we do today... but I think the part about Lot's wife was telling us to just trust God. You don't ever need to really look back once God has saved you.
ReplyDeleteSo, wrong Lot?
ReplyDeleteThis was an especially nice chapter to read with two teenage and one 10 year old girl. Lots of uncomfortable glances and a very juicy set of topics for discussion.
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