What if?

What if?

“Remember Lot’s wife.” —Luke 17:32 (NKJV)

As we consider the warnings of God, few of them are as pointed or directed as this one given by Jesus: “Remember Lot’s wife.”

Obviously, the Lord is pointing His audience back to the Book of Genesis. The scene is Sodom and Gomorrah. God is about to pour out His wrath on the cities and the sin they harbor. But before doing so, He sends two angels to gather and rescue Lot and his family.

The angels send them out of the city and give them one final warning: “Don’t look back.” As they go on their way, something starts to happen in the heart of Lot’s wife—a longing for something that was left behind in the city. With the judgment of God raining down on the cities, she looks back… and is turned into a pillar of salt.

It’s a powerful story, and Jesus uses it to convey an equally powerful warning. The warning is against turning back and lingering in places where we don’t belong. All of us run that risk, because there’s a part of our heart that can slip into “what if” mode.

“What if that thing really isn’t as bad for me as God said? What if I can handle it and enjoy the best of both worlds? What if I’m the exception to the rule that sin will always find us out?”

This line of reasoning is subtle but very real. Like Lot’s wife, we can feel that pull to turn back. We can lose the urgency to leave that which God has rescued us from. God wants to alert us to the danger of lingering in places where we don’t belong.

Remember Lot’s wife. Remember what happened when she allowed the “what ifs” to turn her around. Remember how lingering and longing for what God had rescued her from destroyed her in the end. Remember these things, and let them serve as a healthy warning for you.