This word repeated several times in the New Testament.

When the Bible tells us “Remember”, it means that it brings to our attention an important story, idea, or fact which we need to constantly keep before our eyes.

There is plenty of information that we acquire and process in our brain, it then gets stored in the long term memory. We may forget about this information for a long time until we recall it for one reason or another or when someone reminds us with it. However, regarding the commandments of the Lord, it is very useful to always keep them before our eyes so that they may enlighten our path and keep our feet from stumbling in the journey of our life. This requires from us to be always preoccupied with the commandment. We need to read it daily, meditate upon it, and pray through it so we can harness its power in our daily lives.

If this is to be said about any commandment in general, it must be especially important to heed the commandments that have the word “Remember.” We must understand the depth of its meaning such that it stays engraved in our minds and hearts.

The word “Remember” repeated several times in the New Testament, in the books of, Luke, John, Ephesians, Colossians, Hebrews, and Judas. Let’s discuss these verses in that order and meditate on each one of them:

First Verse: “Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:32)

This verse came in Jesus’ talk regarding the end of the world. He was talking about the element of surprise in the Second Coming and the element of selection of the righteous among the wicked so that they would inherit the eternal glory. In this talk, He spoke about those who were preoccupied with worldly things in the time of Lot and Noah. He spoke about those who eat and drink, marry and get married, those who buy and sell, sow and build, until the flood came or the brim stone and destroyed everything. In this context the Lord Jesus said this phrase “Remember Lot’s wife.”

Lot’s wife was an example of a woman who perished, why does the Lord ask us to remember her!?

In fact the Bible presents to us all sorts and kinds of examples; the good and the bad. When we are exposed to this variety of examples, we may learn from them and see what they sowed and what they reaped! Or what others did and what was the outcome of their doing! This way we know the end result of each path they took.

In reality, the personality of Lot’s wife is the embodiment of many mistakes that many of us fall into. Therefore we need to pause for a moment and learn from it.

1. She is a woman who followed God at first but she didn’t continue to the end. She followed God with her husband Lot and his uncle Abraham, the father of all fathers. Nonetheless, she deviated in the middle of the road and parted ways from God and Abraham and ended her life in sad destruction. It is not enough to have a good start, it is also important to be steadfast in the path till the end because “many are called, but few chosen.” (Matthew 20:16). Some may start with spirit but end in the flash (Galatians 3:3). Sometimes people follow God initially but don’t reach the end goal because of lack of faith, negligence, complaining, looking behind, or evil desires, as we saw in the journey of the people of Israel to the Promise Land (1Corinthians 10:1-12). Therefore, let’s beware of stopping or deviating from our path and let’s take heed in completing our spiritual strife in the narrow path until the last breath..
2. It seems so clear to us that the heart of Lot’s wife was attached to the world. She did not make the fellowship with God, which is eternal life, as a priority in her life and she did not follow the biblical commandment, “Hold on to eternal life to which you are called.” (1Timothy 6:12). Therefore, she was slow to leave Sodom (Geneses 19:15-17).  And even after the two angels removed her, with difficulty, out of the city with her family, she looked back with regret for what she left behind despite the warnings of the two angles to not look behind, so she perished. This reveals to us the detriment of being attached to the love of the world and the things in it. The church warns us from this problem in the liturgies daily after reading the Catholic Epistles “Do not love the world or the things in the world.” (1 John 2:15).
3.  Looking back is a great loss and destruction. The lord Jesus warned us from this when He said “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62), “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37-38). He who set out in the path of Christ should be faithful in following Him from the depth of the heart. We must not let anything set us back or distract us from the precious calling to the Kingdom; neither money, pride, nor desires, otherwise we would not deserve the heavenly inheritance. The salvation that the Lord offers us is so great and it indeed deserves that we sacrifice everything for its sake. Thus we would win the kingdom and eternal glory.

We will continue our discussion next week with the grace of Christ