Why Look Back

Introduction

Psalm 143:5 “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.”

The holiday season is always fun and exciting. It is a time of reflection and a time to celebrate. Christmas is, of course, about Jesus Christ. We celebrate his birth and all the miracles that result through his life, death, and resurrection. Families gather together and spend this time celebrating in the presence of one another. Many times this is the only time that we see some or all of our family as miles separate us and other things in life compete for our time and attention.

It is always a good time as we eat together, play games, sing carols, make cookies, open presents and celebrate the good news of Jesus. Then, the day is over and the visit has to come to a close. Our family packs up their bags and loads their cars. They get one more good nights sleep before crowding in the car and head for home. There are tears and hugs and sadness and joy as we think about the time we had together and wonder when the next visit will be. Still there is a sense of joy for the time spent and a feeling of sadness that the visit is over. They say the last goodbye and give the last hug and then they pile in the car. Their car backs up from the drive way and starts for home. Then something happens as we walk back into the house. We pause and we look back. They stop the car briefly once again. We look back at them and they look back at us. We exchange looks one last time as they then drive on toward home and we walk back into the house.

Why did we look back? We love them and they looked back because they love us. It was a brief moment as all the excitement we had shared flashed before our eyes. Then just as quickly as we turned back one last time they were gone again headed for home. We looked back because we love them and we wanted just one last glimpse.’

As this year comes to a close I thought about how we often look back upon the year that we lived and wondered why do we look into what is past? Why do we choose, at times, to revel in what has been? I thought that there certainly was a lesson for us all here to ponder. Why look back? So, I began to look at Scripture to get a glimpse of some of the reasons we often look back and what it helped us to accomplish or what dangers there were in doing so.

This morning let us examine some of the reasons that people look back and find healthy, biblical ways to look back upon another year that will inspire us to become what Christ would have us to in the one ahead.

The Look of Attachment

Genesis 19:24–26 “Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”

These verses tell part of a well-known Bible Story about Lot and his wife. They had made some very poor choices. They chose to live in and among a very wicked city. Two of their daughters had married wicked men from this city and God was ready to judge the entire region for their unbearable wickedness that he was no longer going to tolerate. Even though Lot had made some very poor choices God still recognized him for his belief in Jehovah and chose to spare him from the same fate. He sent angels to fetch them from the city before the destruction. Lot’s words to his daughters and son-in-laws were taken as jokes as if he had just spoken to them about God for the first time. They refused to leave. So, in much haste, Lot and his wife and two daughters ran from Sodom to escape the destruction.

Genesis 19:17 “And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.”

He gave them a plain command. Escape and do not look back. As they made their way from the city Lot’s wife stopped and looked back upon Sodom; similar to the last look we talked about around Christmas. But this look was different. It was a look of regret that she had to leave the life they had built in Sodom. It was not about love for people, but a love for a life she would never get again. You see, for Lot’s wife it was just another choice of disobedience built up on many many choices of disobedience. She looked back in longing for the life they were living because though she had left the physical location of Sodom, it was clear, she looked back because Sodom had her heart. As a result, Lot’s wife turned to a pillar of salt and lost all hope of any life from that day forward.

APPLICATION

Some people look back on the year they have lived hoping to do it all again. No regrets of wrong, no desire for changes, no plans for improvement; instead they look back upon a year lived for self and comfort and they desire more of the same. Just as Lot’s wife wanted more of Sodom, sometimes we look back because we want more of the life we love and sometimes the life we love is a life lived in the world of wickedness that surrounds us. Lot’s wife loved Sodom, a wicked place living a wicked life. So, when faced with losing it all she just had to have one more glance. It didn’t turn out well for her and it won’t turn out for you.

The Look of Acceptance

Psalm 51:3 “For I acknowledge my transgressions: And my sin is ever before me.”

David kept what he had done before him, not to revel in the excitement of his sin or to glory in them, but to remind him never to return to it.

Proverbs 11:2 “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: But with the lowly is wisdom.”

When we choose to humbly accept our faults it helps us to walk differently in the future.

Psalm 119:71 “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; That I might learn thy statutes.”

Sometimes we need to feel the weight of our sin so we can look to God for the answers.

The Look of Advancement

Colossians 3:10 “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”

When we look back and accept our sin then we have the power from God to put on the New man and advance forward with our spiritual growth.

2 Corinthians 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

When we look back on our infirmities and we realize that God was with us the entire time it allows us to better depend upon him and advance in our spiritual growth.

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

When we look back and find the way of Christ hard, but learn to continue on in the work then we are advancing our spiritual walk with Christ while also continuing his work.

The Look of Acknowledgment

Psalm 77:11–12 “I will remember the works of the Lord: Surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.”

When we look back to find the goodness of God and remember his works in our lives it leads us to his Word and his faithfulness. Looking back upon what God has done allows us to acknowledge who he is and how great he is and how wonderful it is to have him as our Lord.

Lamentations 3:22 “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”

When we look back to find the mercies that God showed to us it allows us to acknowledge his grace and his forgiveness and give him glory for the people that we are becoming in him.

The Look of Appreciation

Psalm 107:1 “O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: For his mercy endureth for ever.”

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Ephesians 5:20 “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”

Psalm 95:1–2 “O come, let us sing unto the Lord: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, And make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.”