Bible Reading: Luke 9
Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
A man wanted to follow Jesus. He asked to be allowed to first god and bid farewell to his family at home. The response is our verse for today. This sounds harsh and I suppose it is but we must see the urgency and single mindedness of Jesus here. Gospel work is harvest work. It is a work that involves sowing and reaping. In order to sow in good soil, the hard ground must be broken up with the point of a plow. Plowing is plodding work. It is slow but important. Jesus knew the man’s heart (as he knows all of our hearts). Apparently, he was telling the man that you cannot be a double minded man. This fits well with what he earlier told his disciples:
Luke 9:23-24 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
To put your hand to the plow means to take up the work of preaching the kingdom of God. The man who is looking back is not checking his plowing progress. He is looking back at what he left behind. Jesus is telling us that discipleship is a decision that must leave all behind because what lies ahead is better. Self and life apart from Jesus are nothing. To follow Jesus you must leave the old life look toward him.
Anyone who has plowed knows that you need to keep your eyes forward or you will get your plow out of the furrow and spoil the work. You don’t need to look back because pretty soon you will be right back by the same spot and you can check your progress then because you make a small swath with a plow.
The look back that Jesus is talking about is to look back fondly at a world that hates God. It is regret for what you are leaving behind. There can be no place for regret in a disciple’s life.
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Instead, put your hand to the plow and:
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
In Christ,
Rody
