I have so many questions about Lot and his wife.  Why is Lot living in Sodom?  If it’s so awful, why didn’t he leave? How did he go from being a part of Abraham’s family to an “elder at the gate” of a city worthy of hellfire and brimstone?  And what was he thinking when he offered the raging mob of townsmen his two virgin daughters?!  I am disturbed – that made me sick to my stomach!

Oh wait.  I guess I could become calloused to certain evils around us.  I guess I could also become settled, engaged with the world, unable to leave.

But then, after a night of serious drama in Sodom, the angels tell Lot that destruction is coming at dawn.  Judgment is coming and it’s time is NOW.  And Lot lingers?!  And the angels have to take him by the hand and lead him out.  He cannot overcome his attachments to the city and has to be practically dragged to safety.  And then Lot wants to negotiate with God about where he’s running to?!  Honestly?

Oh wait.  How seriously do I take God’s warnings about sin and judgment?  How quick am I to obey?  Surely I have also lingered, questionned, hesitated, and been reluctant.  Certainly I have been afraid of going into unknown territory… and preferred the place that I was familiar with, even if it wasn’t that wonderful.  And sometimes I look back.

And then Lot is called “righteous, oppressed and tormented in his righteous heart” (2 Pet 2:7-10).  That’s amazing!

 How merciful God is to us – not turning us into pillars of salt for every hesitation, every longing for things past, every attachment to the things of this world (this world that is not our home).  How merciful God is to us – taking us by the hand and leading us out of bondage and places we feel trapped.

“Oh, remember Lot’s wife!  Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Lk 17:32