Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it. Luke 17:32-33

 

Have you ever heard or used the phrase “the good, old days”? Living in the past is a sad way to live.

Ben often used the phrase “the good, old days” when reminiscing about his time in school. But he wasn’t just re-living happy memories. Ben would find himself needing to drink alcohol to handle the sadness of missing a time in his life when he felt successful. It’s easy to get stuck like Ben.

There’s a story in the Bible book of Genesis about a woman fleeing with her husband named Lot. from a city being destroyed. Their rescuer warned them not to look back, but this woman wanted what she was leaving more than what God had for her in the future. The Bible says, “But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26).

Jesus said, “Remember what happened to Lot’s wife! If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it” (Luke 17:32-33). Jesus warned us of nostalgia’s dangers–we’re not to obsess over what’s burning down, what God’s finished with, or what God’s delivering us from. Lot’s wife got calcified and stuck in a place she was only meant to pass through. God says we save our lives by following Him forward, relentlessly trusting Him with eyes focused on Jesus–even if He leads us away from the plans we’d mapped out for ourselves.

Jesus reminds us that He can use every part of the past to shape a future that will end in His greatness and goodness on display when we trust and follow Him (Romans 8:28).