A fatal turning of the head
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish. Psalm 1:6
Read Genesis 19:18—26
Sodom re-appears through the scriptures, Old and New, as the great warning, the great city of sin, the culture of waywardness that entraps, the disaster of falling outside of God’s protection into whatever is there to seize me if I should ever be able to rid myself of God. And Lot’s wife makes her reappearance with Jesus: ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’[1] What do I remember along with remembering her? That I can try to secure my life apart from God. The turning of the head tells everything. How mesmerising it is. How difficult it is to keep my eyes from my own life, my passions, and all I have invested in. How easy to turn back and be turned to salt.
Lord, you have given the scripture and its stories for my use and reproof and correction.[2] So even in this grim tale Jesus would have me look and see myself. I look, and I see my frailty. I see how easy I am to trap. How easy it is for me to turn my head. How simply I can fall back into what I thought I would invest in before I learned to trust you alone. How easy to turn from you. How quickly my freedom can be lost when I do that. Lord, you tell me — I am not being dramatic — you say, ‘Remember Lot’s wife.’ So you know my frailty. And you wish to teach me to know it, too. Fix my eyes upon you alone as my security, my freedom and my life.
[1] Luke 17:31—33
[2] 2 Timothy 3:16