3/17

Luke 17:32

³²"Remember Lot's wife."

Jesus described His return as a time like the days of Noah and Lot. During those times, individuals were wholly engaged in pleasure-seeking, regardless of the cost to anyone else. In a mighty display of God's justice, He suddenly destroyed them, but he spared a few righteous souls out of the midst of the devastation. Jesus was emphasizing the pervasiveness of wickedness and the suddenness of the destruction that would come.

That is when the Son of Man will be revealed. The righteous are to flee and not look back. Luke uses expressions that are applied in a different context in the other Gospels, but certainly Jesus could have used the same words with differing applications, as we all do. Only Luke records Jesus urging His followers to remember Lot's wife.

When Lot's family was fleeing the impending judgment on Sodom, the angel that delivered them warned them not to look back (Genesis 19:17). When the brimstone began to fall, Lot's wife turned to see it and died instantly (Genesis 19: 26). The warning is applicable to these times of judgment and to every day. If our hearts are longing for the illicit pleasures of the world, we turn ourselves away from God and toward selfish indulgence. By doing so, we discount the high call of God upon our lives along with all the promises of the Word, and we consider the abuse of creation for momentary thrills as more worthwhile.

Consider: Each of us needs to personally know Christ to realize the greatness of His love, the wonder of His salvation, and the certainty of His promises. If we don't, we will be double-minded, wondering if the world has more to offer. You and I can't learn from others that the world has nothing of value. It must be the experience of our own hearts.