Salt of the earth

I don’t know about any of you, but God has given me MANY chances, many opportunities, to right a wrong in my life. And it still blows me away how gracious and patient He is. In the struggles and trials of my life, I have had many opportunities to learn to forgive. And some hurts are easier to forgive than others, but there are times when it can only be accomplished through pure obedience in God. And I’m in one of those times. My head knows all the right words to think, but my heart is still feeling the hurt. I just feel stuck in this tug of war between my head and my heart. And as I’ve been praying for God to help me with this struggle, He gave me these verses.

Luke 17:20-37 - Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

“It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

Every word in the Bible serves a purpose. Because of these words, we know Jesus walked this earth, but we also know that He is coming again. And as I was reading these verses, 3 words seemed out of place… remember Lot’s wife. What? What does Lot’s wife have to do with the glory of His return?

So, the reader’s digest version of this Old Testament story is Abraham finds out that God is going to destroy Sodom and Abraham intercedes for the people in the city who are right and just. He pleads with God saying “Lord, if there are 50 good people in Sodom, will you not destroy it?” and God agrees. But Abraham goes on, what if there are 40, if there are 30… until he gets to 10. And the whole time God is saying, yes – if there are any right and just people, I will spare the city.

Abraham’s reason for even having that conversation with God is because his nephew, Lot and Lot’s family lived in Sodom. Or at least they were camped close enough to the city’s gates that they would get caught in the destruction.

But when 2 of God’s angels get to Sodom, they realize there are no right and just people and they move forward with the plan of destroying the city. But the angels do honor Abraham’s intercession and help Lot and his wife and daughters escape the city before destroying it. And during that escape, one of the angels says, “HURRY! And don’t look back.” And if you already know this story, you know that Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. She was quite literally, stuck there, in her moment of hesitation.

That’s all we know about Lot’s wife. In these verses, Jesus didn’t say, “Remember Lot’s wife… because A-B- and C, He just says, "Remember Lot’s wife." We don’t know her name, we don’t know how old she is or where she came from. All we know is that she didn’t listen to God, and she looked back. And looking back was the death of her. Looking back was the reason she was stuck forever as a pillar of salt.

And that was important enough to be included in the words in red. Jesus felt it was important enough to say, “Remember Lot’s wife on the day of my return.” And the only thing ever written about her is as she was fleeing sin and immorality, “she looked back.” She stopped moving forward and looked back at the life she was supposed to be leaving.

He is saying, I don’t care what you’re doing or where you are on the day of my return – Run towards me. Just move forward, towards me and DON’T LOOK BACK! If you are in bed, move towards me and don’t look back! If you are in the field, move towards me and don’t look back. Even if you are in the same room as your valuable possessions, run towards me and don’t look back.

I think Jesus is saying - on the day of my return, you better be focused on ME. There shouldn’t be ANYTHING more important than moving towards Me.

The world we live in right now, isn’t a whole lot different than that ancient city of Sodom. We don’t have to look very far to see sin and cruelty, to see unholiness, to see the enemy at work. But God will provide an escape route for us on the day of His return, BUT we need to be focused on Him.

We should ALL be living like Jesus is coming back tomorrow. Let’s just say He was gracious and gave us a warning – if somehow, we all knew the day and time. That we knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow. How many things in our life would we have to clean up before He gets here? How many apologies have been left unspoken? How many loved ones have we not prayed for or shared His love with? How many have we chosen to see through hurt eyes instead God’s eyes?

So, I have to ask myself, am I stuck? Stuck in unforgiveness. Stuck in hurts from the past? Stuck in shame and guilt? Stuck in pride? Stuck in sin?

I’m not sure about anyone else, but this hits home for me. And right about now I’m SO VERY THANKFUL that we live in a time of grace, a time of mercy and forgiveness. I’m thankful for His blood that makes all of that possible. And unlike Lot’s wife, I get a second chance. I have the opportunity to repent and know that the Creator of heaven and earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will only see me through the eyes of grace and mercy. And I will not take for granted that, even though I sometimes get stuck, I also have the opportunity to move forward once again.

Ephesians 1:7

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.