Getting Out of Sodom and Getting Sodom Out - Genesis 19:24-26

"Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation. But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt" (Genesis 19:24-26, NLT).

As the angels of the Lord that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah led Lot and his family to safety, they specifically told Lot and his family not to look back.

The Hebrew verb indicates that Lot's wife engaged in a prolonged, intense gaze toward the wicked world she loved. In other words, she didn't just cast a curious glance back, she looked longingly!

Lot’s wife was too attached to the ways of Sodom to follow God’s plan for her life, so she was included in the judgment on the cities and villages of the plain as she lingered on the valley slopes.

Jesus referenced the consequences of longing for Sodom by Lot's wife when He taught about His return (second coming) to judge the world: "Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it" (Luke 17:32-33, NLT).

In other words, according to Jesus, those who desire the life of this world over the eternal life God gives will end up losing their life both in this world and in the next.

Jesus came to give you a new life and deliver you from the ways of this world. So, don't look back at the world and long for its ways.

God has gotten you out of Sodom, now let Him get Sodom out of you!

Desire the abundant life that God gives and look toward the eternal life that God has planned for you!

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (1 John 2:15-17, NLT).