Press On Toward Heaven

Richie Thetford

All too often we have a tendency to look back and dwell on what we have done or haven’t done instead of concentrating on the future. “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot's wife” (Luke 17:28-33). Lot’s wife had a longing for that which she had left. Consequently, she was overtaken and consumed. Her trust was not in her God but in the things of the world. She just could not bring herself to let go. Do we have this trouble today? Think about it. Sometimes “looking back” may simply be filling our lives up with “good” things to the degree that we cannot render to our God what is due Him. That is the point that Jesus made in Luke 9:62 when He said “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” So where should we be looking? Obviously not backwards. We should be looking forward and running toward God. Lot’s wife should have felt as if she were in a footrace away from Sodom and we should feel the same way. The Hebrew writer tells us to run with endurance the race that is set “before” us, looking to Jesus...(Heb 12:1-2). We must realize that everything we do as we follow Jesus is another step in our race toward our eternal victory. When you feel enticed by the world - remember Lot’s wife. Let’s all strive to “press on toward heaven!”