No turning back

In one of my classes, we just finished reading The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. I read this book several times when I was younger, and I still find it an exciting story. However, as I read it through this time, I was able to read deeper into the spiritual meanings behind the allegories. 

At one point in the story, Christian, the main character, and his companion, Hopeful are passing through the Plains of Ease when they see the pillar of Lot's wife (if you aren't familiar with this story, check out Genesis 19 - it's a great story). As Lot and his family were escaping Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord had instructed them not to turn back and look. Lot's wife disobeyed, turned to look at her former home and was turned into a pillar of salt. 

Lot's wife was not ready to give up her material desires. Her home was being destroyed, and this made her distraught. She just wanted one more glimpse of the cities. This may seem harmless at first until you realize that God had forbidden it. When you disobey God, you face the consequences. Lot's wife turned back and as a result, she was killed. 

Being a Christian is hard. It's a long journey, just as is portrayed in The Pilgrim's Progress. But we cannot keep turning back and thinking about all the things we have left behind. We get bogged down, and sometimes, we become stagnant in our walk with the Lord or even begin taking steps back toward our sin. 

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV) gives us a good mental image (with my added emphasis): "Therefore, since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." 

We are to throw off anything and everything that hinders us from drawing closer to God. This is an incredibly hard task. This means that if you have friends that are causing you to sin, you need to do something about that. Trust me, it's a very difficult decision. On one hand you want to be able to minister to them, but on the other hand, if they are bringing you down, you need to flee from temptation and just maybe find yourself some new friends.

I love the second part of that verse that talks about running a race. What a great image! When a runner is running in a race, he rarely looks behind him. Sure, he may look to either side of himself, but if he were to look behind him, that would require him turning his whole upper body, thus slowing him down. He just doesn't do this! He knows that if he wants to win the race, he must keep his eyes fixed on the goal and run with everything he has. He can't be worried about those around him. All that matters is reaching the goal. 

As Christians, our eyes need to be fixed only on Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). If we try to turn back to the things that we gave up, we take our eyes off of Him, and suddenly the world's pleasures enter our view and we subject ourselves to the temptations around us. 

When Christ saved you, you lost your burden. You gave up the lusts of the flesh to pursue a greater Master. God does not desire us to ever return to that place of loneliness, despair and pain, so why should we feel the need to turn around and dwell upon them? It makes no sense. Our lives are much more complete and fulfilled living focused on God. Worldly pleasures will never give us the true joy that is found in Him. 

I challenge you (and myself) to focus on keeping our eyes on Jesus. If something in this world is taking away our time with Him, we need to get rid of it and never go back; for only then can we pursue a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.