Memories are a rich treasure aren't they? Especially of our loved ones! What kinds of memories do you have about certain people that you enjoy lingering over from time to time? What about those memories you would prefer NOT to have? Sometimes those unpleasant memories can carry with them an ugly picture, amen? We would rather not look at them in our mind's eye, choosing instead to lock them up forever. What kinds of memories do you think people will have of you? I came across this verse today in Luke 17:32, which prompted these thoughts....

"Remember Lot's wife."

What should we remember about Lot's wife? There must be a reason for Jesus to exhort us to keep this woman's memory fresh in our minds. Shall we find out? Let's dig up her past.... In Genesis 19:1-14, we find Lot in the gate of Sodom whereby two angels approached the city. He bid them come home with him and after an ugly scene with the sodomites of the village, he finally managed to get behind closed doors safely with their help. Once inside, the angels asked him if there were any others besides Lot himself in the home. Of course, Lot told him of his wife and daughters and sons-in-law. He was warned of the angels to get out of the city for they were sent to destroy it by the Lord. For reasons we are not going to be looking at today, we find that Lot's family did not take his informing them of this imperative move seriously. He seemed as one that mocked to them when he told them the Lord was going to destroy the city. It sounds to me as if Lot's testimony sorely lacked sobriety, amen? In your own life, would those who know you take you seriously if you told them that God was telling you and your family to pack up and go elsewhere? What would your reaction be if disbelief and doubt settled into their hearts? Would it interfere with your obedience to the Lord's direction for your life? In verse 15 & 16 of Genesis 19, we learn of Lot's reaction to his family's doubts...

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

Imagine flirting with procrastination after being delivered a serious warning of imminent death and destruction looming on the horizon! Imagine stalling to the point that angels had to actually take you by the hand and pull you out of a dangerous situation because you don't have sense enough to do it yourself! That's like standing and staring at a huge tornado! Yet that is what took place when Lot lingered in his move.... What tender mercy of God to lead a wayward and backslidden child to
safety! Typically, it is the woman that is tender to the desires of the Lord and seeks to get the spiritual answers and help necessary for the family to survive and thrive. But we see here that even Lot's wife after receiving the warning had to be grabbed by the hand and led out of the sinful city of Sodom. It certainly tells you something about her heart, doesn't it ladies? It was definitely hard!

Hebrews 3:13
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day;
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

What happened in this woman's life that would bring her to the place of being insensitive to the warnings of the Lord as well as the counsel of her husband? What could possibly be the cause of desensitizing her to the fact that her whole family was at stake?! What about her children - surely a mother's heart would be sensitive to those daughters that she carried within her body for nine months and gave birth to! Isaiah 59:15 says:

Can a mother forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Many women today don't realize the unwise choices they make put their entire family at great risk. Like Lot's wife, they have become calloused and insensitive through sin and selfishness. In verse 17, the angels brought them forth abroad and then said:

Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

This family was being warned not only to leave, but not to even dwell near the outskirts of the city in the plain. They were told to escape as far away as the mountains - to higher ground! And they were told not to look back....

Luke 9:62
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the
plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

What would Lot and his family do with these orders from the Lord? How closely will they follow each of them in obedience to Him? Will they venture out to higher ground or be content to dwell in the lowlands? Following God-given orders was for the protection of their whole family, the good of their family! Could they not see this truth? I wonder ladies, how closely do you and I follow the Lord's orders for our lives? Do we pick and choose the "parts" of His commands we will obey, maybe even linger a little in the wrong spot before we obey Him? How do you feel when your children linger over your commands for them, or when they don't completely obey your instructions? We find in verse 24 & 25 of Genesis 19 that God did exactly as He said He would...

Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

Verse 26 says:

BUT his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Ladies, this is how you and I are to remember Lot's wife - as a pillar of salt! A memory to her character.... Not a pleasant memory, is it? But it is one that Jesus said we are to reflect upon. You see, Lot's wife was now a monument to the inward condition of her heart. That hardness once hidden to man that the eyes of the Lord had already seen, was now able to be viewed by all mankind. God knew her heart to be hardened by the world and the effects of "city life" in Sodom. Lot's wife had been in the world so long that the world was now in her! The grip of this present evil world is strong, amen? It's filthy communications soaked deep into her soul so that when the angel of mercy sought to save her from judgment, she could not be saved! Her love for the world and all it's pleasures and luxuries desensitized her to the danger her family was in and she herself stood to suffer. It even caused her to not take the Word of God seriously! A dangerous position to be in for sure....

Today, many women all over America are finding more pleasure in working or in a worldly lifestyle, than they are in their homes and in raising their own children themselves. They are desensitized to the evil influences surrounding their little ones, to the possible destruction their entire family faces. The luxuries of the world have allured and hooked them, clouding their eyes to the seriousness of the situation, blinding them to the true condition of their hearts and homes. Many have long since
turned their ears away from hearing the Word of God...

If this memory personally disturbs you today, could it be that you are headed in the same direction as Lot's wife? Is your heart becoming hardened by the effects of the world, your love for it, your enjoyment of it? Have you so immersed yourself in pleasure that you don't realize you are dead while you live? Have you regretted, even lingered over leaving the comfort and security having a job can bring in not wanting to forsake the extra income to go home - home to your children and your husband? Admit it ladies, we are often tempted to resort to sinful means to achieve our goals rather than to trust God to work things out! Do your attachments in this life need to be loosened? Are you clinging a little too much to your earthly life? Do you feel that the Lord's commands might cramp your style? Have you heard His warnings but not yet heeded them? Do you always wait till the very last minute to obey?? How many times has God's mercy overcome your procrastination? Take a moment and think about it all.... What type of monument would best picture your life today? Will your memory stand erect for all of eternity as a woman of God or a pillar of salt? Is your life a monument of obedience to the Lord, or disobedience? A commemoration of belief, or unbelief?

Sometimes as Christians, when the Lord tells us it's time to "get out", we fear the change of leaving that particular place we have known so long. We experience anxiety knowing we'll probably face family members who won't take our obedience to the Lord seriously. Perhaps you have some attachments that you need to loosen in order to fully obey the Lord's direction for your life. Will you be guilty of lingering anxiously over the decision? Ladies, don't wait until an angel has to rescue you from your own stupidity - there is too much at stake! Escape for your life! Your family AND your heart stands to suffer greatly if you do not. Reaffirm your commitment to follow Jesus whatever the cost... And DON'T look back! Look UP - for our redemption draweth nigh!

I guess it's pretty clear why the Lord urges us to "Remember Lot's wife."

God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello

Revised 2002

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