Stop Looking Back in Regret

Genesis 19:26 -

26 But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Luke 9:57-62-

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus [7] said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

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So God has this funny way of answering my questions or pointing things out to me almost immediately. Last night, I had this urge to just pray. To read Scripture and pray. During that time, God began to point out things in my life of which I  need to drop. Then he reminded me time and time again how I longed for the very things I was once involved in. He reminded me that I was looking back to the very things that kept me in bondage.  Like the Israelites, who wandering around the desert for 40 years, longed to be back in Egypt, I, too, had longed for my Egypt. I felt at a loss, but I didn't put into plan what I knew to be right. It was a mere thought that crossed my mind.

Well, today in class, we dug into the 19th chapter of Genesis. Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, everyone knows the story of Lot's wife and how, after looking back at the city, she became a pillar of salt.  The greatest thing to note here is that it wasn't her turning around in curiosity that turned her into that pillar of salt, but it was the fact that she looked back, wanting to go back. She looked at it in contemplation of wanting to be back in the very city that epitomized sin. 

There is a parallel passage in Luke, when Jesus is talking to some people who wanted to follow Jesus. What did Jesus say?  "Well, I guess you can return back to those things on occasion. That would be alright." NO! Far from it, Jesus said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." 

Okay, maybe this isn't as clear as one would think.  But the dude before this said he wanted to return home first. The guy wanted to go back one last time to say good bye to the past life. What Jesus is saying is DON'T GO THERE!  Don't look back on your old life. Don't look back to what you have done and wish that you can do it that one last time. NO.

Following Jesus requires dedication. It requires a releasing of that past and not looking back in wanting. Because what Jesus is saying here is that when you look back at those things in longing, it is as if you are wishing you never made the severance from those things. It is almost as if you are saying, God I regret giving up these things to follow You.  

O Lord, may it be far from me that I would long for the places I once found myself. Forgive me for longing for the very things you saved me from. Forgive me for taking advantage of your grace and your love. God help me to fix my eyes on you and realize that you have given me life NOW and you have given me victory from those things! It is when I look back and long for those things again that I grieve you. Teach me what it means to live for and look forward in hope of the Promise Land: Heaven.