Legacy Lessons W/Vance K. JacksonSample

Don’t look back. After the separation, Lot moved to the plains of Sodom. According to Strong’s Concordance, ‘Sodom’ (H5467) means: “burning." Before God overthrew those cities and all the plain, the land was flourishing.

Genesis‬ ‭13‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭KJV‬‬ puts it this way: “And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.”

Lot will lead you back to a place of comfortability and of false security. The plains of Jordan looked lush on the outside, but the Covenant wasn’t with the comfortability of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Lot was rich, but he was deceived. Comfort deceives. When God led Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s family left, but their hearts stayed stuck in the place of comfort. When the Lord burned up Sodom and Gomorrah and overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground—God burned up the corruption of the past.

But notice, Lot left, his family left, but his wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Lot’s wife became what was in her heart—a stagnant monument that was always looking back to the past.

Even when God burns up the past, when your heart desires to hold on to the plains of the past, your vision becomes stuck on what ‘was’ rather than what ‘will be’. God led Lot out of destruction, but Lot’s wife looked back. Her heart was tied to the plains of the past when they were being led to the mountain of Zoar. Lot’s wife was stuck on the plains of the past and couldn’t focus on the future. The mountain of Zoar was the ceiling of Lot’s family while it didn’t even scratch the surface of Abram’s journey.

In fact, according to Strong’s Concordance, the word, ‘Zoar’ (H6820) means: “Insignificant." Zoar was Lot’s ceiling while it was insignificant to Abram. Abram, you can’t carry Lot. His mountain is an insignificant marker of distinction that becomes a distraction. Even with the mountain becoming a destination, Lot’s wife still looked back.

You can’t carry the distraction of others. Lot’s wife was a manifestation of what Abram was battling—stagnation. She turned into a pillar of salt, a stagnant monument perpetually looking back at the past. You can’t carry “salty” people. They either become distractions or monuments that stay stuck looking back at what ‘was’ and not what’s ‘to come’. Lot had to go.

It’s not only Lot’s wife, but Lot’s entire family represented the stagnation of the past. Once his family reached the ‘Insignificant mountain’—their ceiling, they were even afraid of this insignificant mountain and dwelt in a cave. “And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.” Genesis‬ ‭19‬:‭30‬ ‭KJV‬‬.

When you’re pursuing Covenant, you can’t hide in caves. Fear ruled Lot. Fear is a perversion of faith. Fear cannot pursue Promise. Choose to pursue Promise. Let go of fear and pursue Promise. Let go of fear and pursue Purpose. Look forward. Look to the future. Don’t look back. Your future is bright. Your future in Christ is secure. It’s your choice. You can look back and stay stuck like Lot’s wife, or like Abram, you can choose to let Lot go and pursue Promise. Pursue Promise.