Part 5: Don’t Look Back
“Remember Lot’s wife.” Luke 17:32
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2
The Warning We Don’t Want to Hear
A few months ago, we walked through the story of two rivers — one flowing from the Tree of Life, fed by God’s righteousness, and the other polluted at the source by the self-righteousness that entered the world in the garden. We followed those rivers from Eden to the cross, from the cross to today, and we ended with an invitation: come to Jesus, drink from the right river, and never thirst again. That invitation still stands. It will ALWAYS stand.
But today I need to talk to you about something harder. Something that Jesus Himself brought up, and He didn’t bring it up casually. He didn’t mention it in passing like a weather update. He brought it up as a WARNING. And He used a story from the oldest pages of Scripture to drive it home. Three words: “Remember Lot’s wife.” That’s it. That’s the whole verse. Luke 17:32. Three words. And they carry the weight of ETERNITY. Let me show you why.
The Cities on the Wrong River
Back in Genesis, two cities had become so consumed by wickedness that their names became synonymous with judgment: Sodom and Gomorrah. These weren’t cities that had never known God. They existed in the time of Abraham, the man God had chosen to be the father of nations. Abraham’s own nephew, Lot, LIVED in Sodom. The knowledge of God was near. But the people of these cities had given themselves over entirely to the polluted river. They drank from it without shame, without restraint, without any thought of God — like it was on tap and the tab was paid.
Now the prophet Ezekiel tells us what was really at the root of Sodom’s sin — and let me tell you, it might surprise you: “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it” (Ezekiel 16:49-50). Pride. Excess. Ease. And a complete disregard for the people around them. Sound familiar? It should. It sounds like the world outside your window. It sounds like the six o’clock news. It sounds like half the internet.
Sodom wasn’t just sexually immoral — though it was that too. It was self-righteous to the BONE. It had decided for itself what was good, what was acceptable, what was right. It had built an entire culture on the fruit of the wrong tree. And it was THRIVING — by the world’s standards. Beautiful buildings. Full stomachs. Prosperous ease. The kind of place that would have had a five-star rating on every review site. But God saw it. He ALWAYS does. And a five-star rating means nothing when the foundation is rotten.
Abraham’s Plea
When God told Abraham what He was about to do, Abraham did something remarkable. He BARGAINED. He stood before the Lord and pleaded for the city — not because he loved its sin, but because he loved PEOPLE. “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?” (Genesis 18:23-24). And God said yes. If there are fifty, I’ll spare it.
Abraham kept going. Forty-five? Yes. Forty? Yes. Thirty? Twenty? Ten? “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it” (Genesis 18:32). TEN righteous people. That’s all it would have taken to save the entire city. Ten people walking in God’s righteousness. Ten people drinking from the right river. There weren’t ten. Let me tell you, you need to sit with that one for a minute. In a city FULL of people, God could not find ten who walked with Him. The polluted river had taken EVERYONE.
This is what self-righteousness does when it’s left unchecked. It doesn’t just corrupt individuals. It corrupts whole communities, whole cultures, whole GENERATIONS. And eventually, it brings judgment. Not because God is cruel — He’s not. He’s the God with no shadow of turning, remember? — but because a holy God cannot call evil good forever. There comes a point where mercy has knocked on the door so many times that even mercy steps back and lets consequences do the talking.
Get Out
God sent two angels to Lot. Their message was simple and urgent: GET OUT. Take your family and go. Don’t stop. Don’t hesitate. Don’t go back for the photo albums. And then they gave one specific instruction that matters more than all the rest: “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away” (Genesis 19:17). Do NOT look back.
Lot and his family started running. Fire and sulfur began to fall. And Lot’s wife — the woman Jesus would reference by name THOUSANDS of years later — looked back. “But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26). One look. That’s all it took.
Now, she didn’t just glance over her shoulder the way you check behind you when you hear a loud noise. The Hebrew word here suggests she LINGERED. She longed. She looked back at what she was leaving behind — the life, the comfort, the familiarity of that city — and in that moment, she made her choice. She chose the old river over the new road God was setting before her. And it cost her EVERYTHING. Let me tell you, the distance between salvation and destruction was the length of one backward glance. That should terrify us and sharpen us in equal measure.
Remember Her
So why does Jesus bring her up? And WHEN does He bring her up? He brings her up while He’s talking about the last days. About the time when He will return. About a generation that will be living just like the people of Sodom — eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building — carrying on as if God isn’t watching and judgment isn’t real. Business as usual. Netflix and takeaways. Like the sky isn’t about to split open.
And right in the middle of that warning, He says: “Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it” (Luke 17:32-33). Whoever holds on to the old life — the old river, the old ways, the old self-righteousness — will lose EVERYTHING. But whoever lets go and follows Jesus will gain everything that matters. This isn’t ancient history. This is a warning for RIGHT NOW. For you and for me.
The Days We’re In
Paul wrote to Timothy about the kind of people that would mark the last days. And when you read his words, it’s hard not to feel like he’s looking out the SAME WINDOW you are: “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
Read that list again. LOVERS OF SELF. Lovers of money. Proud. Arrogant. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having the APPEARANCE of godliness but denying its power. That last one is the one that should keep us up at night. Because it’s not talking about people who reject God outright. It’s talking about people who LOOK religious. People who show up on Sunday. People who post Bible verses on social media but live as if God’s Word doesn’t apply to them Monday through Saturday. People who’ve got the bumper sticker, the worship playlist, and the Instagram aesthetic — but no POWER. No transformation. No fruit. The appearance of godliness. That’s fig leaves all over again. That’s self-righteousness wearing its Sunday best.
And Paul’s instruction? It’s blunt: “Avoid such people” (2 Timothy 3:5). Don’t follow them. Don’t drink from their river. Don’t look back at their version of Christianity and mistake it for the real thing. Smith Wigglesworth put it this way: “There is a difference between the manifestation of the gift and the counterfeit. Don’t be afraid of the real because you’ve seen the false.” The real river is still running. Don’t let the counterfeits scare you away from it.
The River Still Runs
I know this is heavy. I know it might feel like I’m painting a dark picture. But I’m NOT. I’m pointing you to the LIGHT. Because here’s the thing about Sodom: God still saved Lot. He still sent angels. He still made a way out. Even when the whole city was lost, God’s mercy reached in and PULLED PEOPLE OUT OF THE FIRE. He’s doing the same thing right now.
The river of Life — the one that started in Eden, the one that flows through Jesus Christ, the one fed by the Holy Spirit — hasn’t stopped running. It’s still clear. It’s still straight. It’s still available to anyone who will turn away from the polluted water and come drink. But you have to CHOOSE. And you have to keep choosing. Every day. Every moment you’re tempted to look back at the old life, the old comforts, the old lies that felt like truth — remember Lot’s wife. DON’T LOOK BACK.
The writer of Hebrews put it this way: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). LOOKING TO JESUS. Not behind you. Not beside you. Not at what the world is doing or what you used to be or what you’re afraid of losing. Look at JESUS. He is the author. He is the finisher. He is the river, the gate, the vine, the way, the truth, and the life. And He’s not behind you. He’s AHEAD of you. So why on earth would you look back?
One Last Drink
If this series has done anything, I pray it’s made you THIRSTY. Thirsty for the right water. Thirsty for something real in a world full of imitations and knockoffs and five-star-rated polluted rivers.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). That hunger you feel? That restlessness? That sense that there’s got to be MORE than what the world is selling? That’s not a problem. That’s a BLESSING. Because it means you’re being drawn to the right river. Don’t fight it. Follow it. Follow HIM.
Don’t look back. Don’t settle for lukewarm. Don’t let anyone — no matter how polished or popular or how many followers they’ve got — lead you down a river that ends in death. The narrow river leads to LIFE. Jesus is standing at its banks right now, hand extended, saying the same thing He’s been saying since the beginning: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Come. Drink. Live. And NEVER look back.
* * *
A Moment Before You Go
Lord, I don’t want to be a pillar of salt. I don’t want to stand frozen between two rivers, one foot in Your kingdom and one eye on the old life. I’m turning my face forward — toward You, toward the narrow river, toward everything You’ve prepared for me. Burn the bridges behind me if You have to. I’m not going back. In Jesus’ name, amen.
* * *
A.W. Tozer wrote, “The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders, and interfering with God’s work within us.” Stop looking back. Stop giving orders. Let go, and let His river carry you forward.
C.S. Lewis said, “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” Lot’s wife didn’t believe that. Don’t make her mistake. The best is ahead of you, not behind you. It always has been.
i-CH
Always