July 13

“But his wife looked bock from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” Genesis 19:26

It is possible for a believer outwardly to forsake the world, leaving everything behind, and yet inwardly to cling to those very elements which he has forsaken for Christ’s sake. Just to cast back longing glances is proof enough of how easy it would be to go back and repossess what had once been given up.

That is why Jesus gave his strong admonition to his disciples that they should remember Lot’s wife. She was one who did not forget her former possessions even in a time of great peril. We are not told that she was guilty of retracing a single step toward Sodom. All that she did was to look back. How revealing, though, was that backward glance! The question at issue is always, On what is my heart fixed?