Straight Furrows

Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Oh what a sermon is in the context of this passage in Luke 9:57-62. This is the beginning of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, the beginning of his end, leaving this world for the next. He is on a pilgrimage, both of the road, and in this life, just as we are told in Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Without ever understanding you are just passing through this life, this life is only a journey to your eternal home, you will never understand how to become a disciple of Jesus Christ which is your ultimate calling to become. You might play church, practice religion, or you just might not worry about any of it lost in false hope, but Jesus calls you to lay down your life as his disciple, just as he laid down his life to give you eternal life.

Jesus was approached on this road by three people proclaiming their faith, yet when He questions the level of it, they find themselves lacking. All had the desire, but yet lacked the heart of total commitment. They found themselves placing duties, seemingly more important duties, above total abandonment to following Jesus. There is nothing and no one that should be placed in higher importance than your Savior. Jesus’s words sting when he tells us of the cost of following him. Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. He is by no means calling us to “hate” anyone, especially those that have been given to us by Him. He is calling us to love him greater than anyone or anything in this world. That is total abandonment to him, that is the first step in discipleship. My wife knows I love her second to my Savior.

Being a disciple, being sold out to the next life, brings abandonment in this life. It brings a simplicity with obedience to his will for your daily life. My hearts desire for my earthly tombstone is to only have one word on my epitaph, “Obedient.” For most of my life I did things my way, regardless of consequence or cost, I pursued everything judged by the worlds standards. When God rescued me from hell, he began a great work in weakening my pride I had rested on. My physical strength is now my weakness, my idols became just stuff, my hard heart was softened by the gospel. My only desire is to share with you what I eternally possess; for God to use me to change your worldly view into an eternal one, just as he did mine.

Remember what happened to Lot’s wife in Genesis 19:17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.”26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Have the cares of this world such a hold on you that you can’t totally abandon yourself to Jesus? Do you see how the measure of your heart for him is seen in your life’s focus on him? Nothing can compare to the as Paul described, Ephesians 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man. Look ahead to heaven, look ahead to eternal paradise, look ahead to a world free from sin and pain forever. Look ahead to your priceless treasures, and quit looking back at just stuff.