"Lingering and Looking Back"

Lingering And Looking Back

Don’t go back to anything you had to pray your way out of. One of the main characters in the movie Shaw Shank Redemption is Ellis Boyd Reading. He is known in the movie as Red. Red is one of the best smugglers in the prison and can get anyone about anything they need inside the prison walls. One of the reasons Red is so good at smuggling is that he has been inside the prison for a very long time. When we first meet Red, he is up for parole after 30 years of being in prison. He tells the parole board that he has been rehabilitated and wants to be set free from prison. Unfortunately, the board denies his parole. He would have done anything at the moment to get out of prison.

Five years later, he goes in front of the parole board again and they give him the same answer. Finally, after 40 years of being in prison, they let Red out on parole. He received the freedom that he always wanted. However, after being out for a few weeks, he hates it. He is so familiar with living in the cell that he starts thinking about trying to find a way to return. He even thought about buying a gun to break his parole so he would be sent back. He desired to go back to the very prison he hated.

We often do the same thing as Christians. We are imprisoned to some sort of sin and God breaks those chains free. However, we eventually feel the desire of the prison calling for us and we run back. First Peter 2:20-22 speaks to this. It says…

“For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallow in the mire.” (NASB)

If the Lord delivers you from some kind of bondage, why then return to the same thing you prayed for God to deliver you from. While that sinful desire may feel good for a little while, in the end it will lead to destruction You are flirting with bondage. By giving into that evil desire, it makes it easier for you to give into more evil desires in the future.

Eventually in the end, you may completely decide to walk away from the Lord. According to Peter, it would have been better for you to never know the Lord than to turn away from God after following him. When you reject God after trying a relationship with him in a sense you are saying you have tasted and seen he is not good. However, if you have never had a relationship with him, you have not completely rejected his goodness yet.

The bible helps us understand that once we give our lives to Jesus, we do not turn back to our former life, nor do we go back to the ways of the world.
The bible is very clear to not only encourage us to deepen our faith and to make our walk with Jesus more intimate, but to warn us clearly that we must never turn our back on God once we have surrendered to Jesus.
The message is to all churches and all born-again followers of Jesus Christ: radical obedience and service is required of all disciples. Minimal effort and half-hearted devotion are completely unacceptable to God.
Our message today is entitled, “Lingering And Looking Back” as we will look at the mistakes of Lot, Lot’s wife and a man who wanted to follow Jesus.

First, Lot and his wife: it is easy to focus on Lot’s wife turning to a pillar of salt. But the problem doesn’t start there. Genesis19:16 says that Lot “lingered.” That Hebrew word means “to be reluctant, delay, stay, or to turn back.”
Lot was stalling as he really didn’t want to leave. He literally had to be taken by the hands and dragged out. His wife wasn’t motivated either. Genesis19:26 tells us that she disobeyed, looked back and became a pillar of salt.
Lingering and looking back! What does this mean? We, just as Lot, have been warned and we know what to do. The problem, like Lot, is that we are reluctant to flee from the ways of this world that is destined for destruction.
Lot was living a satisfying and sufficient lifestyle. The comfort of what the world provided was a luxury worth pursuing more passionately than striving to live his life in radical, faithful dependence upon God.
1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (NKJV)
Now…Lot’s wife! The focus is not becoming a pillar of salt, but learning the reason behind the transformation. She not only turned back, but lagged behind. She turned and watched the flaming sulfur fall from the sky, consuming everything she valued. Then it consumed her. I think she regretted leaving Sodom and tried returned.
The Hebrew for “looked back” means more than to glance over one’s shoulder. It means “to regard, to consider, to pay attention to.” What she chose to value in her heart led her to sin, which led to her death.

Her death is also a poignant reminder to us not to look back or turn back from the profession of faith we have made, but to follow Christ without hesitation and to abide in his love in a deep, intimate relationship.

Ephesians 4:22-24, “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (NKJV) Live for Jesus and not the world!

Finally, the man desiring to follow Jesus in Luke 9. He wanted to follow, but first wanted to say good-bye to his family. What is “really” going on here is to show us how often the requirements of God’s kingdom get pushed back in our agendas and how quickly they lose priority.

Yes, we want to be a Christian. Yes, we want to follow Jesus! It is not that we are denying these things in our lives, but rather, delaying them because they are in the way of our other desires, goals and endeavors in life.
Notice, in Luke 9:61 the man said, “Lord, I will follow You, but….” The man expresses interest in following, but quickly attaches a condition. Jesus is not interested in negotiating with our conditions. I think Jesus is saying discipleship requires instant action. In other words, God’s “kingdom work” cannot be put off until a “better time” that suites our agenda. The time is now, not later.

Jesus is challenging our loyalty and motives not our earthly responsibilities. There is a cost to following Jesus, and each follower must be ready to serve, even when it requires sacrifice. Jesus wants total dedication, not half-hearted, reluctant commitment.

What is our hesitation and why are we so reluctant to go deeper with Jesus? What conditions are we placing on serving God? What is the draw of this world that is more enticing to us than living more fully for Jesus?
May we truly evaluate the condition of our hearts and our depth of commitment in strengthening our relationship with Jesus! Let us make the decision to stop lingering in the world and stop being so easily enticed to turn away from God and back to the world.

Closing

In Shaw Shank Redemption, Red has a choice to make. He either does something that puts him back in prison or he tries to find purpose. Red ends up finding purpose. He went on a mission to track down his friend named Andy. Andy was in prison for a crime he did not commit. He escapes the prison and ends up going to Mexico. It’s while in Mexico that Andy starts a very lucrative business.

By Red choosing not to give in and go back to the very cell that held him in bondage, he ends up getting a life of freedom in Mexico. We have the same opportunity to live a life of freedom. While the temptation we face seems to bring life, it will put us in the very cell we already escaped from. The blood of Jesus has set you free from that sin. You are forgiven. You are set free. Do not return to the very sin that has destroyed your life in the past. Don’t go back to anything you had to pray your way out of.

Philippians 3:14
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (NKJV)