Look Not Behind Thee

One of the shortest scriptures in the Holy Bible is in Luke 17:32.  Christ reminds us to " Remember Lot's wife.".  Now you may remember the story of Lot, and Sodom and Gomorrah.  In this story, the people of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah were extremely wicked, and God saw fit to destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.  But Lot's family lived within the city of Sodom and Gommorah, and they were still a righteous people.  So God warned Lot and his family to depart from Sodom and Gomorrah, and to "look not behind thee" (Gen. 19:17).  Well, as Lot and his family were departing from the wicked city, Lot's wife decided, for whatever reason, to look back.  Immediately she was turned into a pillar of salt.  I have thought much about this story, and about the phrase "Look not behind thee".

God gave Lot and his family a very strict command, and the command was very clear.  Whenever we disobey God's commands, there are consequences, and in the instance of Lot's wife, the consequence was very sincere.  But what brings the consequence isn't necessarily dependant on our actions, but more dependant on our intentions.  When we are willingly and intentionally disobeying God, that is a lot more severe, then if we were accidentally to disobey one of God's commandments.  So God really looks upon our desires, and the intentions of our hearts.  We can assume that in the case of Lot's wife, she was more then just looking back, but she was desiring to go back.  She had the desire of returning to her old ways, and to return back to who she once was.

In a lot of ways, God is calling us to leave Sodom and Gomorrah ourselves.  He is asking us to leave our old sinful ways behind us, and to not look back.  He is asking us to not even think about looking back.  It is not easy, but it is very rewarding.  It takes faith, and it takes effort, but the reward is so great.  The reward is eternal life.  Christ will help us to leave our own "Sodom and Gomorrah's",  but we have to make the choice whether or not we will look forward with faith, or to look back in doubt.  We must look forward with faith, with a firm belief that what God has to offer us is so much greater then what the world has to offer.  When we do this, we will be given a strength, stronger then our own.  I know that Christ lives, and through him we can move forward and we can leave our old ways behind us.  I love my Savior, and I know that he is real.  I am a witness of these things, because I have experienced them in my own life.  I hope that we can all remember to always look to the future with faith.  Have a wonderful day!!!