2006-03-20 - A Little Salt With That?

Luke 17:32, "Remember Lot's wife."

While not the shortest, the above verse is one of the shortest in the Bible and yet, it is packed with instruction for us. The words of Christ are always laden with instruction, but even in this short space, we will only scratch the surface of these three words.

We all know the story of the Lord reigning down fire from heaven on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). Lot was rescued with his wife and two daughters, but as they fled the cities, they were warned not to look back as they fled. Lot's wife did look back upon the cities and became a pillar of salt. In this manner, we can also remember some other words of Christ from Luke 9:62, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Lot's wife looked back, and Christ warns us to remember her.

She was told not to look back, and yet with her husband and daughters with her, the only righteous people in the cities, she sinned. Sin is always an offense to God, but when we sin among God's own people, it is even more hideous. She sinned smack in the face of God's justice. Here is God destroying those who were rebelling against Him, and he gives one command to the family as they flee, "Don't look back." In full knowledge that God punishes those who disobey Him, Lot's wife does just what she was warned not to do. Lastly, she sinned in the midst of God's merciful deliverance. He spared them from His wrath, and her response was to do the very thing she was told not to do.

We are told in Romans 15:4, "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." This is why Christ tells us to remember Lot's wife. We are to remember her as a means of instruction to us. Sin can be costly.

I would make one practical observation here for us today. The first part of it is that we must remember how swift God's response was to her sin. How quick was His judgment. However, what we really might take to heart is to remember that she had never committed this sin before. This was not a sin she had indulged in over years and God grew tired and said enough. No, this was a one shot deal...look back...pillar of salt - one sin, one immediate judgment. It is sobering. Remember Lot's wife.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

tim@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org