Remember Lot's Wife! (CBU Midterm Exam Week)

A Pillar of Salt
• In Genesis 19, God sends two angels to warn Lot, the nephew of Abraham, and his family that God will destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
o Genesis 19:24-25,28 - 24Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven 25and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.…28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

• God gives Lot the chance to walk away from the sin and wickedness of Sodom.
o Genesis 19:13-16 - For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. 14And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. 15And 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.' 16And 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.
• When God commands us to “walk away from sins”, we can’t do so while looking back on our past sins and dwelling on them.
o Genesis 19:17 - And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
o 1 Peter 1:13-16 - Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, 'Be ye holy; for I am holy.’
 “Gird up the loins of your mind”
• Men in Biblical times wore long tunics and robes similar to togas. This garb was cumbersome to wear when a man went to do manual labor, so in order to keep from tripping over his robes, a man had to tie the robes up around his waist using a belt. This is what is meant by “girding up your loins”.
• Similarly, we must tie up our “loose ends” in our minds in order to be “on target” with God.
• If we don’t tie up our loose ends, we will continue to trip and stumble until we do. Tying up your loose ends means repenting of your previous sins and not looking back. If you decide to sit among the wicked... you'll experience God's wrath against the wicked as well. Let's say, "Guilty by association."
o Are you ashamed to be a Christian?
o Are you worried that Christianity is "an uncomfortable place to be"?

• Remember that God can separate your sins from you “as far as the east is from the west” if you ask Him to.
• God HATES repeated sins.


• The Consequences for “Looking Back”
o As Lot’s family was leaving Sodom, his wife looks back at the wicked city and is turned into a pillar of salt.
o Genesis 19:26 - But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
o We can’t move forward while looking back. God doesn’t like stagnant Christians – He wants you to move forward from your sins and seek first His kingdom, but that’s not practical when you’re caught up in yourself.
o Remember that we said that the root of all sin is our selfishness and our self-gratifying nature.
 Ten Commandments - “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
• God is our highest priority.
 Matthew 6:24 - No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
 We are reminded in Luke 17:32 - REMEMBER LOT'S WIFE.
A reminder for us not to "look back" when given the opportunity to walk away from our sins - through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As God gave Lot an opportunity to walk away from the slavery of sin by sending angels, God sent His son Jesus Christ to give you an opportunity to be freed from the slavery of sin.

Applications to College Life
• Whatever mistakes you’ve made in the first eight weeks of school, you need to ask God forgiveness of those “screw-ups”. If you didn't study hard enough, commit to study harder. And always remember - yesterday has come and gone, and tomorrow may never come, so the best time to make resolutions is NOW.
• If you’ve made mistakes in relationships or friendships, realize that we need to reinvest ourselves in something of the spirit rather than the flesh.
o Galatians 5:16 - But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
In our discussion about relationships, we talked about "what if's"? Yes, there is uncertainty when we die to ourselves and submit to the will of God, but we have to KNOW that God's in control.
If you're worried about having your soul mate "pass you by", you're not helping yourself by dwelling in your sins and your past relationships. In fact, dwelling in your past shortcomings is a great way to miss your soul mate as well as God's purpose for your life.
Keep doing it your way and you'll reap the meager results of your actions and intentions. Do it God's way and you'll be both blessed and rewarded through the fulfillment of God's wonderful and perfect plan for your life.
• Commit to eradicate those mistakes from your life – until you do, you will find yourself “enslaved” to those sins and to those mistakes.
• Spend time with God. Institute a daily quiet time. If you make time for God, He’ll make time for the things in your life that you truly need.