Plowing Ahead

  

 

  

 

Luke 9:62

 

62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

NIV

 

I grew up on a farm with my granddaddy plowing huge acres of land during planting season.  He  was a modern farmer, so he used a tractor to pull his plow.  But I never ceased to be amazed by how straight his rows would be without a set grid to follow.  Somehow he could look ahead to where he was aiming and plow nice, even rows, one right after another.  He did this by picking out a natural landmark on the other side of the field and driving straight toward it.  He kept his eyes fixed on the ultimate goal.  I never saw him driving along looking over his shoulder the whole way.  Nope.  He looked in the direction he was going. And it worked.

When Jesus used this agricultural analogy, He was talking about the old kind of plow powered by humans and animals.  But the meaning is the same.  If you are going to plow, you have got to look ahead.   To do otherwise, makes you unfit for the job you are attempting.  You cannot get where you are going, looking at where you have been.

There is a reason our Christian life is called a "walk with the Lord."  It is a progression of steps.  It is a journey that we walk out, day in and day out.  In order to succeed on our journey, we have to be committed to the process.  Whatever it may be.  Obviously, the primary application here is that a man was giving Jesus excuses about why he could not follow him until later.  The truth Jesus was stressing was that a person needed to commit to following, regardless of life's circumstances.  When we choose to be a follower of Christ, we sign on long-term.  For a lifetime.  There are no tours of duty.  It is one long, continuous mission.  It ends only at the grave, where we go out in our spirit to live eternally with Him.

People who make excuses usually never commit in the first place.  How many altar calls have convicted souls remained in their seats, bargaining with God.  First let me graduate high school.  Let me have some fun.  Then I will commit.  Later.   For many 'later' never came and they never committed.  Hell will be full of people who were "almost persuaded to follow Christ."

A second application is to people who begin their walk with Jesus, but when the going gets tough, they want to drop out and go back to where it was easier.  They want to avoid the hardships and return to an easier time.  Fruitfulness is now born in ease, but rather in adversity.  We must commit to follow Christ even when our field is overrun with roots and rocks.  Even when the plowing is bumpy, we cannot give up.  We cannot forfeit our destiny.

A final way I see this verse is as is applies to particular situations.  Some Christians commit a  situation to the Lord, believe for a miracle, and stand for a time.  But when the answer is long in coming, they give up on their prayer request.  They quit praying.  They quit believing.  They just give up, leaving their plow in the middle of the field, 2 feet from the end of the row.  If only we could see through God's eyes and know how  close we are to the end! 

When we commit a matter to God, we do not need to take it back.  We need to leave our burden, our desire, our hopes- at the foot of the cross.  We need to continue to trust Jesus to be our Source.

 

Dear Lord, I recommit to following you: For my life, for the purpose you have given me, and for the situations that I have asked you for.  I choose to set my eyes ahead and not behind.  Please forgive me for the times I have quit.   In Jesus' Name.  Amen.