Is there a pillar of salt in your past?
In Genesis Chapters 18 and 19, we read about God’s appearance to Abraham in the form of a man, along with two other men who are actually two angels. They come to declare to Abraham and Sarah that in a year their son Isaac, the promised child, will be born.
Then God shares with Abraham that He is about to set judgment on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous” Genesis 18:20
Abraham, concerned for his nephew Lot and Lot’s family who live in Sodom, tries to bargain with God not to destroy the city if there are at least 10 righteous people there.
In God’s eyes, Sodom and Gomorrah’s wickedness is so vile there is no other option to do but destroy it. He cannot even find 10 righteous people in the entire city of Sodom. God is gracious with Lot’s family for Abraham’s sakes.
The two angels are sent to Sodom to rescue Lot, his wife, and two daughters from being destroyed along with the city.
After a dramatic evening, and hesitation from Lot and his family to leave the next day; the angels grab them by the hand and physically remove them from Sodom. They tell Lot and his family to run for the hills. Lot asks to go to a nearby small town instead and is granted permission.
DO NOT LOOK BACK! They are strictly warned.
As Sodom is being bombarded with fire and brimstone from the heavens, Lot and his daughters keep going. I can imagine they would have been very tempted to look back as they heard the destruction. But Lot’s wife’s temptation is too strong and she can’t help but look back. A part of her still belongs in Sodom. Because she looks back, she becomes a pillar of salt.
We all have a piece of our hearts in our past, in our Sodom. Our Sodom is that very unhealthy and vulnerable place that calls us back over and over. It’s tempting finger tries to lull us back any time we are a bit weakened in our faith or in our identity as a child of God.
This is what our Sodom may look like:
- A longing
- Anger and Resentment
- A heartbreak or deep wounding
- A weakness
- Past memories
- Habits that held us hostage
- Our own sins
- People who have sinned against us
- Cares of this world
We seem to be stuck in those places of Sodom. We cannot move forward with our lives because we are stuck in our past.
I don’t know about you, but I have been stuck in many areas of Sodom, and still struggle with some of those places.
God does not want us to live our life in reverse, in those places. Sins and hurts form the past can sit in our hearts like a pillar of salt. They make our hearts rocky and hard; they poison us, and rob us of our God-given joy and peace.
God gave us yesterday, but it is gone. We cannot do anything about it. Yet we can still profit by learning from all our yesterdays.
He gives us today and want s us to live our todays with an uncluttered heart and mind. We can play an active role in each today while we still have it.
He hasn’t yet given us tomorrow, but we can make healthy plans and choices as if He has.
Each moment of each day is a fresh start.
Jesus promises to give us a new start with a new heart.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you: I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26
Our heart has been redeemed. But it is up to us to claim that new heart. It is up to us to recognize that our heart of stone, including all salt pillars, have been replaced with a heart of flesh. This is the toughest part though, isn’t it? It is hard because we feel so comfortable with the old and the familiar.
Getting healthy requires a conscience effort, which means work. It requires us to again play an active role in claiming that heart of flesh, and renewing that concept in our minds daily by giving our salty pillars over to God.
Let us say with David,
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
All scripture from NIV
Image found on Facebook.
By ~ Elizabeth Yalian 2014 ©http://hiseyeisonthissparrow.com.
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