Luke 9:62; 17:31-32
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
“In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.
Our past is important to us. It informs us who we are and from where we came. It is from the past that we learn how to behave in the future. There’s a lot of useful information in the past. We are to cherish our past whether it be personal or cultural, but we are not to cleave to it. In these passages, Jesus discusses the importance of letting go of your past in order to embrace your future.
In the Luke 9 passage, two men profess that they want to follow Jesus; however, they had to fulfill certain obligations first. One had to go bury his father and another had to go say good-bye to his family. Jesus told them that anyone having once put his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.
Why does Jesus say this? Does He not want us to grieve and bury our dead? Does He not want us to say good-bye to our families but just disappear? No, that is not what He was saying. Jesus was addressing the heart of the issue. He wasn’t so much as addressing the men as He was addressing the excuses. If their intentions to serve were real, they would not have put stipulations on them. Jesus is to be first; all else is to be last. What was Jesus really saying? I believe we will find our answer in the next passage.
The Pharisees asked Jesus about when the Kingdom of God would come (vs. 20). Jesus explained to them that they would not “see” the Kingdom for it is within; rather, it would start out an internal (spiritual) Kingdom not an external Kingdom. He goes on to talk about the arrival of the external Kingdom—when He would return to rule and reign in Person. He describes athe panic and chaos of that day as people flee their home and work (possibly from His presence). He says that they are not to turn back for their things. He then tells them to “Remember Lot’s wife.”
Lot’s wife died because she disobeyed and looked back at the destruction of Sodom. When the angels prophesied the demise of Sodom, they told Lot and his family to leave and to not look back. However, on her way out of the city, Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Why did she look back? She looked back because her heart was in that city. Sodom was her home. It was where she grew up. Her friends and family were there. She looked back with longing like any of us would if our home was being destroyed. Whether it was because of curiosity or remorse is unknown. The fact that she looked back and the consequences of looking back are known.
I believe this is what Jesus was saying to the two men. They wanted to return home because that is where their hearts were. They wanted to follow Jesus but, like the rich young ruler, they couldn’t separate themselves from what meant more to them, in this case, their past. Jesus knew that they might have went home to do the things they intended but then never left because something else would have come up—another emergency, parents begged them to stay, etc.
Ask any farmer and he will tell you that you cannot plow a straight line looking backwards. Instead, you have to fix your focus on a mark in front and aim for that mark while plowing. Likewise, if we are going to follow Christ and stay on the straight and narrow row, then we cannot spend our time looking back. We can’t focus on past mistakes. We can’t focus on missed opportunities. We can’t focus on family. We can’t focus on friends. We can’t focus on careers. We can’t focus on hobbies. We can’t focus on anything that takes our minds off Jesus and His purpose for our lives. We must focus our attention on the mark and keep moving forward. These are the words of Paul in Philippians 3:13-14: “…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Where is your heart? It is with that that you treasure most. What do you treasure most? Jesus said where your treasure is is where your heart will be. Lot’s wife’s heart was in Sodom. Those men’s hearts were at home. Today, many people’s hearts are with their families, their careers, their sports teams, but not with Christ. They may be religious but religion saves no one. Jesus wants a relationship. Jesus wants our hearts.
I don’t know about you but my heart is in Heaven.
1 comment:
It is so easy to let the demands of family, careers, etc monopolize our time if we're not careful. Good reminder because we can, if we really want to, be responsible and still put God first. He knows our heart's desires and he'll make a way if we just ask.
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