Don’t Look Back

“Do not stop...and don’t look back...” Genesis 19:17

These were the instructions of the messengers of God to Lot and his family. “Get out of this place for we will destroy it completely. The stench of the place has reached the Lord.” Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the heavens on Sodom and Gomorrah and everything was destroyed. 

This story in Genesis has received intense scrutiny not only from Bible scholars, but also atomic energy researchers, multi-disciplinary scientists and archaeologists from several universities. They are trying to discover why a thriving civilization, flourishing for at least 3,000 years in a plain near the Dead Sea, came to a curious and abrupt end. Some think perhaps that a meteor exploded 5-10 km above land, leaving no crater, just devastation. 

Whatever it was, Lot and his family was told not to stop and look back. This is good advice on what to do about sin in our lives. We need to leave them behind and not look back if we really want to follow God. Sometimes we try to be resolute, but then we go back to our old ways a little at a time. There are many inmates in QC Jail who were released from prison, but went back to their old ways again and again. They get caught and end up in jail again. 

We may not end up in jail, but every sin takes away our freedom little by little. We need to use God’s power to cut free and not look back.