Is your life flowing?
Lot and his family venture to the well-watered plains of the Jordan and pitched his tent toward Sodom. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are well provided in resources of asphalt pits, salt, etc. Lot most likely dwelt near a number of streams that fed into the southern part of the Dead Sea which in his day were fertile. Because the Bible can use names of people or places after something significant, we are not told whether these cities had these names before or after their destruction from God, but their names mean scorched or burnt (Sodom) and a ruined heap (Gomorrah). Lot’s sole decision to dwell there was a place of ease and comfort. He desired to no longer be nomadic. I am certain this made raising his family easier and the selling of the livestock/crops.
As everyone knows, the Dead Sea is called that because there is no outlet. Various minerals, waste, erosion, animals, etc. eventually settles into this place. Although medicinally the salts in this sea help with muscle fatigue, it is not a pleasant odor and not very prosperous. And the same can be said about some people’s lives. When we have no outlet, what comes in stays within. This buildup poisons our heart and our lives. It is a life that takes and takes and never wants to give.
Jesus brings the solution when He said, “…Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). Let us look at it another way from an event in the Old Testament. 2 Kings 4 records a concerned mother who will not have anyone to provide for her. Her deceased husband had incurred debts while alive and was unable to pay them back. His family had enjoyed a life of taking. But now they had no means to pay back (or give). Their lives were always take care of number one. As a result, her sons were summoned to pay off the debt for a number of years as slaves. This worried mother will have no one; which will mean she will die in obscurity. The solution pointed out by Elisha was within her home: oil. Oil (Olive Oil) represents the Holy Spirit, favor/provision, and anointing. And so long as there were empty jars to fill, the oil kept flowing. When did the oil stop? When there were no more empty jars. If we are to look upon this event in a church sense, we are the jar that fills other jars (these empty jars represent people). If we continue to flow the Holy Spirit—in love and serving one another—then our jar will continue to flow and fill others’ lives. If we hold back, the flow stops in our lives and others are not filled.
So let us go back to Lot’s family and now we come to where God showed me something in this portion last night. They flee the destruction raining down from Heaven. On their way out, Lot’s wife becomes a pillar of salt. There are two takeaways in this. First, Lot and his wife potentially could have had more children. This means posterity, a channel for God’s provision, and legacy that will continue to future generations. But it was cut off because she did not take the caution from the angels seriously. Further it was a lesson because instead of truly trusting God for provision, Lot trusted on where he lived to provide all he needed.
Second she became a pillar of salt. The average human body contains about 200g (or 40 teaspoons) of salt. How this is able to move is because our body is made up of water. About 60% of the human body is made up of water. When she became a pillar of salt, I believe she was zapped of the water in her body. This may not make sense until I provide the following scriptural references. Isaiah 55:1, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, but and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” John 4:13-14, Jesus declared to the woman at the well, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Revelation 21:6 ends with, “I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts”. Revelation 22 continues this promise saying, “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb (verse 1)…And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!’ And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (verse 17). So what happened was that she did a lot more than just simply glance over her shoulder. She turned around. She saw what she thought was her future, hope, promise, etc. destroyed and she was angry with God. Her life of ease, comfort, and name recognition (through her husband) was over. She desired to not flow any more.
And sadly this can be the lives of some people. Whether it is a setback or a series of setbacks, pride (I can provide, I can take care of my needs, who needs God), withholding in our giving—money, love, serving—we are no longer a vessel or a river that God can flow through. We can become pillars of salt ourselves. The remedy is found in our latter verses. We need to come to the well, come and buy, come and drink freely. A teaspoon amount will not work. We need to come to God with buckets. We need to immerse our lives with His Word (Bible reading), prayer, and meditation or seeking His revelation/presence daily. And we cannot immerse for ourselves. We need to be that bucket that empties into other people—both here and abroad. Nations are crying out of thirst. Your neighbors are crying out in thirst. The question is: will you flow?