don't look back

today's readings are Genesis 18:16-19:38, Matthew 6:25-7:14, Psalm 8:1-9, Proverbs 2:6-15

so today we had some very odd things happen in the OT reading. the NT was pretty straightforward with Jesus giving us excellent advice...including "Don't worry about tomorrow"

but in the OT, we've got some guys coming into town, and the Bible calls them "the Lord" and "angels". we're not sure who this is, since at one point "the Lord" says he needs to go down to Sodom to see if what he heard was true. doesn't sound like omniscience.

and these guys are God's reps, bringing His mercy to Lot and his family. but man, what a family! first, Lot offers his daughters to the guys at the door who are trying to rape the angels who came into town. what the heck? what kind of loving father is that?

and then Lot's wife, though told not to look back, looks back anyway. of all the messed up things that the family does, this is the smallest, but gets the worst results - turned into a pillar of salt. again, it makes you wonder what that means exactly? was she cursed for disobeying? or was there some kind of problem where her skin was affected with whatever was happening to Sodom? dunno?

but then they leave and Lot begs the angels to let him live in the little village of Zoar. then when he gets there, he's like "ummm... maybe not so much" and he ends up going to the mountain after all. where his daughters get him drunk and sleep with him. and then the Moabites and the Ammonites get their ignominious origin from this episode.

but the take away lesson from today's readings can be seen as for us to live in the present. Lot's wife experienced the horrible results of "looking back", and Jesus gives us the great teaching of "not worrying about tomorrow". so, we experience His presence right here, right now, in the present.

always good advice. live in the now. don't worry about yesterday or tomorrow. find Him in the now, and experience His mercy, which we saw in His response to Lot's crazy family.