LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND AND LOOKING AHEAD WITH FAITH
this is going to be a very general sketch based on the account of lot's wife looking back in contrast to abraham looking forward with God into the future. (i don't usually open this way? but just felt like it,)
Genesis 12:1-4
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.
Genesis 19:15-23
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"
18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, [b] please! 19 Your [c] servant has found favor in your [d] eyes, and you [e] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."
21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. [f] )
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Abraham responded in faith to God's instruction to look to the future. God had pulled him out of nowhere and just said, "hey abram, i'm gonna mess up the order of your life and give you a new name. just go where i tell you okay?" note that god never did tell abraham where He wanted him to go and why. He simply said, go- and abraham got up and went. everyday abraham was away from home, i speculate that he must've been thinking- this is crazy, i should juust return to Haran and go home, back to the simple way of life that i once had. everyday he was outside wandering or travelling waas a day in adventure with god- each day in a foreign land had to be justified to himself and his family, that his hearing of god's voice was genuine and not imagined or self-construed. each day was an adventure of faith, a challenge which to many of us, we would see as crazy. in contrast, the simplicity and unembellished manner in which the genesis-writer describes the account adds to the reader's impression of an unquestioning obedience by abraham. it seems, at the most, that he was too dumbstruck to even think- he just went. when god comes along in that direct a way telling you to go somewhere that He's not going to tell you about, basically saying, hey! trust me for every single day, it's an adventure with me, and the reward is immeasurable- what will you do?
will you step forth bravely into this new stage of life with god, destination unknown, for the promise of His rewards as a show of your worship and obedience? or would you grouse when you can't see the immediacy of those rewards? abraham had to wait a very long time for his obedience to bear fruit. or would you doubt each time you saw an obstacle? would you cave into your friends who laughed at your crazy migration? would you fold at the mocking and resentment of your family, who being thet closest to you, end up doubting your faith and trust in God? would you rationalise the cost and expense of the journey and sell all your assets, putting your security in human financial systems or risk all in god's great adventure? would you take all you had with you, or leave some behind, just in case- so you have a place to return to? would you tell Him, god i'm too old! abraham was 75! WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF HE CALLED YOU TODAY?
lot's wife on the other hand, represents the direct opposite of this. upon the destruction of sodom and gomorrah and teh judgement of god's righteous anger against the sinful city, she found it hard to leave her home, her place of comfort, even though god clearly, via angelic witness, provided for lot's escape. never mind that her home was the word where we derive the word for the horrific act of "sodomy"- literally, it was Sin City. she had lived there a long time, doubtlessly, and had a way of life- her friends, family, loved ones- her clubs and societies, her neighbourhood, etc, etc. she had something to look back to. despite god's grace and mercy in saving her in additon to her daughters and husband, and His clear instruction not to look back, her moment of doubt and longing for the comfortable did her in in God's eyes. there was nothing wrong with looking back per say, but that look represented a variety of things. 1.) she was in direct violation of angelic instruction, which was effectively, disobeying god directly. 2.) it represented a moment of turning from her god-directed destination, a longing for a sinful alternative to god's deliverance. in effect, her moment of doubtwas a wavering back towards a sinful and carnal world. 3.) it represented a distrust in god for a better salvation and deliverance- she doubted the blessing of god in deliverance and a better future which god had planned out for her and her family.
the account of lot's wife is a grave warning to all of us whom jesus has provided a way out for. if we think strictly speaking, we should all be like the sinners of sodom and gomorrah, destroyed and extinguished. however, we were saved, each one of us, into a life of deliverance BY GRACE. we do not deserve our salvation, hence we owe Him our worship! one recalls teh old sunday song/hymn, "i have decided to follow jesus, no turning back, no turning back". 1 John 2:15 declares the irreconcilability of the christian pledged to Him with the world, "do not love the world or anything in it, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." It is difficult to not look back on the ways of the world, but Jesus has called us into a glorious future with Him, and a promise that life will never be the same again. do not look back onto that life of sin, for the consequences are devastating and are too much for us to bear. lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. the consequences for us who have entered into a new convenant in His blood, are much more severe.
let us look forward into the glorious future with faith and trust, seeing beyond human eyes into the realm of the impossible with Jesus, and not look back, with even teh slightest doubt on the life of sin that we were called to leave behind. it is said that "change is always uncomfortable". indeed, this is true, but if god called us to change, He has His purposes and reasons, and He has a better plan designed for us AHEAD. do not look back- respond to His calls with grateful obedience and trust for the future! =)
god HAS called you out of darkness into this light of purpose, are you looking back?
Genesis 12:1-4
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.
Genesis 19:15-23
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"
18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, [b] please! 19 Your [c] servant has found favor in your [d] eyes, and you [e] have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."
21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar. [f] )
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Abraham responded in faith to God's instruction to look to the future. God had pulled him out of nowhere and just said, "hey abram, i'm gonna mess up the order of your life and give you a new name. just go where i tell you okay?" note that god never did tell abraham where He wanted him to go and why. He simply said, go- and abraham got up and went. everyday abraham was away from home, i speculate that he must've been thinking- this is crazy, i should juust return to Haran and go home, back to the simple way of life that i once had. everyday he was outside wandering or travelling waas a day in adventure with god- each day in a foreign land had to be justified to himself and his family, that his hearing of god's voice was genuine and not imagined or self-construed. each day was an adventure of faith, a challenge which to many of us, we would see as crazy. in contrast, the simplicity and unembellished manner in which the genesis-writer describes the account adds to the reader's impression of an unquestioning obedience by abraham. it seems, at the most, that he was too dumbstruck to even think- he just went. when god comes along in that direct a way telling you to go somewhere that He's not going to tell you about, basically saying, hey! trust me for every single day, it's an adventure with me, and the reward is immeasurable- what will you do?
will you step forth bravely into this new stage of life with god, destination unknown, for the promise of His rewards as a show of your worship and obedience? or would you grouse when you can't see the immediacy of those rewards? abraham had to wait a very long time for his obedience to bear fruit. or would you doubt each time you saw an obstacle? would you cave into your friends who laughed at your crazy migration? would you fold at the mocking and resentment of your family, who being thet closest to you, end up doubting your faith and trust in God? would you rationalise the cost and expense of the journey and sell all your assets, putting your security in human financial systems or risk all in god's great adventure? would you take all you had with you, or leave some behind, just in case- so you have a place to return to? would you tell Him, god i'm too old! abraham was 75! WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF HE CALLED YOU TODAY?
lot's wife on the other hand, represents the direct opposite of this. upon the destruction of sodom and gomorrah and teh judgement of god's righteous anger against the sinful city, she found it hard to leave her home, her place of comfort, even though god clearly, via angelic witness, provided for lot's escape. never mind that her home was the word where we derive the word for the horrific act of "sodomy"- literally, it was Sin City. she had lived there a long time, doubtlessly, and had a way of life- her friends, family, loved ones- her clubs and societies, her neighbourhood, etc, etc. she had something to look back to. despite god's grace and mercy in saving her in additon to her daughters and husband, and His clear instruction not to look back, her moment of doubt and longing for the comfortable did her in in God's eyes. there was nothing wrong with looking back per say, but that look represented a variety of things. 1.) she was in direct violation of angelic instruction, which was effectively, disobeying god directly. 2.) it represented a moment of turning from her god-directed destination, a longing for a sinful alternative to god's deliverance. in effect, her moment of doubtwas a wavering back towards a sinful and carnal world. 3.) it represented a distrust in god for a better salvation and deliverance- she doubted the blessing of god in deliverance and a better future which god had planned out for her and her family.
the account of lot's wife is a grave warning to all of us whom jesus has provided a way out for. if we think strictly speaking, we should all be like the sinners of sodom and gomorrah, destroyed and extinguished. however, we were saved, each one of us, into a life of deliverance BY GRACE. we do not deserve our salvation, hence we owe Him our worship! one recalls teh old sunday song/hymn, "i have decided to follow jesus, no turning back, no turning back". 1 John 2:15 declares the irreconcilability of the christian pledged to Him with the world, "do not love the world or anything in it, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." It is difficult to not look back on the ways of the world, but Jesus has called us into a glorious future with Him, and a promise that life will never be the same again. do not look back onto that life of sin, for the consequences are devastating and are too much for us to bear. lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. the consequences for us who have entered into a new convenant in His blood, are much more severe.
let us look forward into the glorious future with faith and trust, seeing beyond human eyes into the realm of the impossible with Jesus, and not look back, with even teh slightest doubt on the life of sin that we were called to leave behind. it is said that "change is always uncomfortable". indeed, this is true, but if god called us to change, He has His purposes and reasons, and He has a better plan designed for us AHEAD. do not look back- respond to His calls with grateful obedience and trust for the future! =)
god HAS called you out of darkness into this light of purpose, are you looking back?
posted by leb at 8:19 PM
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