Don't Look Back

When we first accept Christ into our lives, and I believe this is for every believer, the enemy will always try to tempt us to go back to the world we came from. Most of us use to hang out with people that led us into doing things we shouldn't have, other times we were in environments that gave us the desire to sin. Yet, even as a believer we still live in a world of temptation and it is getting darker every day. 

Moving Forward 

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Some say, because we are Christians it's ok to be in the world and even a part of it. But this is far from the truth of God. You see, in the Bible there's a story of a city God was about to destroy, this city was so evil that when God sent angels to Lot's house, the men of that city wanted to rape the angels! As the story moves on something happens that kind of shocks me every time I read it. Lot's wife looks back even though the angels told her not to, and because of it God turns her into a pillar of salt.  In other words, she dies! The more I learned about this story the more I realized God may have been telling us you can't look back and love what you used to love to go forward and follow Him. 

Don’t Fall into the Trap 

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Sometimes people will say to me things like, "You can still go minister at those clubs, to those strippers, you can listen to that music, watch those movies....". People will sometimes twist scripture to make me believe that ministering to the world means going or looking back, but they are wrong. There's a principle in this story that has blessed me in real life. I remember talking to my Pastor and I told him a few of my friends were inviting me to a nightclub. They felt I could go there to be the light. My pastor laughed and at the same time gave me one of the most serious faces I had ever seen. He told me that if I did that I would be following the devil right Into a trap. Man was he right! A few months later that same friend that invited me to the club got shot and killed in the same club he wanted us to go to. The enemy almost got rid of me and it all started with a friend trying to make me look back.

Now back to Lot's wife. 

So what if God had shown mercy to her for looking back at the evil she was leaving behind? What if she had been allowed to look back and flee the city of Sodom for a better place? You see , the virus of Sodom’s wickedness would have gone with her to her new place, left deep within her, a seed planted, waiting its chance to emerge and infect others, causing them also to stumble. Rather than allow her to preserve the cherished memory of Sodom in a new place, God preserves her as a pillar of salt. She becomes a memorial for the preservation of evil, a warning to all who see sin but do not hate it, a warning to those who still go back! 

God knows when we grab onto the things that once held us captive, it will not only hurt our spiritual life, but the spiritual life of those who God calls us to disciple. Compromise may say everything will be OK, but compromise deceives and blinds us to not see those new to the faith being affected by our actions. Our compromise can hurt others very deeply, especially new believers who are looking to us to lead them the right way. It's like Jesus is trying to set them free, while a person in compromise is leading them right back towards a prison of sin or like my pastor said "A Trap" of the devil!  

Look Forward 

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Lot's wife is a reminder to all of us that what we do affects the spiritual lives of others. My friend telling me to look back, to go back, could have led me to sin and even death. Thank God I said no! So today be reminded people are looking at your life and may even be following you. So look forward towards the beauty of God and the freedom that comes with Him and live in it. Tell the New Believer what Paul told those in the Church, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1

Author: Christian Estremera a member of Legacy Church

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