“Remember Lot’s wife.  Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” – Luke 17:32-33

Jesus warned His followers to remember Lot’s wife.  And this warning is passed on to us today.

Lot’s wife was forced to leave her prosperous home in Sodom, taking only what she could carry.  Angels had come to warn her and her husband of God’s impending judgment on the city.  They told her not to look back – not to linger, not to long for her old way of life.  But she did, and as a result, judgment fell on her as well: she was turned into a pillar of salt.

The example of Lot’s wife reminds us that the return of Christ will be just as sudden as the judgment on Sodom – and the consequences of longing for an old way of life just as severe.

Eugene Peterson translates the passage as: “If you grasp and cling to life on your own terms, you’ll lose it, but if you let that life go, you’ll get life on God’s terms.”

Luke had earlier talked about how Jesus shared how someone could save or lose their life (Luke 9:24). A selfish person is only interested in his own life in this world.  But he will lose it when the Son of Man returns.  But the Christian who spends his life for God and other people in this world will save it in heaven.

Albert Einstein once said that, “Strange is our situation here on earth… there is one thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of others.”

Today, we must ask ourselves the question.  Are we selfishly clinging onto our life on our own terms, or are we willing to let our “idea of life” go in favor of others?