Genesis 19:24-26. 24Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. 25And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
In the New Testament the Apostle John warns us, “Love not the world.” He doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t love the Earth with its trees, and lakes, and hills. And he definitely doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t love the people in the world. When John uses the word world, he’s talking about the sinful desires that are against God. He goes on to describe the world as “the desires of the eyes, the desires of the flesh (body), and the pride of life.” The world is anything that takes the place of God in our hearts. For Lot and for his wife, the world was Sodom.
When the angels came to rescue Lot from the destruction of Sodom, most of his family wouldn’t listen. But eventually Lot, his wife, and two of his daughters would escape with the angels. Before they left the city, the angles strictly warned them not to look back at Sodom. Just keep running away.
But tragically, Lot’s wife looked back – Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
This wasn’t Lot’s wife looking back at Sodom in curiosity. This was Lot’s wife turning around and looking back at Sodom with sadness, not wanting to leave. You see, Lot’s wife loved Sodom so much that even when God told her that it was evil, she didn’t care, she still wanted to live there. The Bible says that she became a pillar of salt. This probably means that she got buried in whatever God was raining down from Heaven.
Hundreds of years later Jesus will use Lot’s wife as a warning. “Remember Lot’s wife,” he said to the people. Jesus was reminding his followers that they can’t love and obey God and love and obey the world at the same time. This is because they are opposites.
The world says, do what you want to do, put yourself first.
God says, do what others need, put yourself second.
The world says, make sure you are happy.
God says, make sure you are holy.
The world says, use your time and your things to take care of yourself.
God says, use your time and your things to take care of others, and I will take care of you.
The world says, above all, love yourself.
God says, above all, love me.
We don’t really know why it was so hard for Mrs. Lot to leave Sodom. But like John told us, it was definitely connected to pride. Do you know what pride is? Pride is when you think that you are the most important person in the world. That you are right and not wrong. Pride makes you put yourself above everyone, even God.
Why do we choose pride over trusting God? Well, because we are sinners (that’s the simple answer). But we do it because our pride helps us feel good and safe, or at least we think it does. Lot and his wife went to Sodom likely because they felt safe there, and they felt important there. But they weren’t safe at all. And they weren’t loved there. Remember, all the people of Sodom came to attack Lot and his family and his two visitors. That’s what happens when we are proud and stop listening to God, the things that we think will make us safe and important will turn around and make our life very bad.
For example, let’s say you are very proud about how smart you are and the good grades that you get in school. Well what will happen when things in school get a bit harder? You might be tempted to cheat on your next assignment, or if you get a bad grade, you will be tempted to be discouraged and frustrated. Pride always eventually takes us to a place where we will do the opposite of what God wants us to do. God would rather you get bad grades in school while trying hard and trusting him, than to cheat in order to keep your good grades. And he definitely does not want us to brag about how smart we are. Instead he wants us to help others to do their best in school too.
When you have Jesus it’s possible to not love the world and its pride. With Jesus you don’t need to be proud. In fact, Jesus hates our pride. He doesn’t ever want us to make riches, and popularity, and power our goal, like the people of Sodom. He wants us to learn to love like him, and that starts with admitting that we need him to save us. Something Lot’s wife could not admit.
You: Can you think of something in your life that makes you feel proud? Why is it dangerous to be proud of this thing?
You with Jesus: How does knowing that Jesus loves us and forgives us allow us to turn away from the world’s temptations (the things that make us feel proud in ourselves)?
Prayer: Father, I want to follow Jesus and never look back. But when I do look back I know that you have already rescued me by your grace. Amen.
