20th January

“Another said,”Yes, Lord, I will follow You, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plough and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:61-62

Sometimes in order to fully experience the living water of the Holy Spirit we need to let go of the past and give up what is holding us down. Let’s take a look.

In the last few verses of Luke chapter 9, Jesus educates three keen men, in what it means and costs to follow Him. In summary, Jesus highlights to these men that in order to follow Him, they have to fully surrender their hearts, even if it means there is a great cost. So often our response to Jesus’ call is, as the man Jesus is talking to said, … “BUT first let me…!” However, Jesus wants our whole heart, not part of it.

In verse 62 Jesus answers the “but first” statement with a profound statement of His own. “Anyone who puts a hand to the plough and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

If we are to fully surrender our lives and follow Christ, if we want to be fully washed and cleansed by the Living Water from His heart, then we simply cannot afford to live in the past. Looking back, after you have had your hand on the plough, implies that you are still living in the past. A farmer cannot plough a field if his eyes are not fully focused on the task. The plough would simply loose control and not dig up the fields evenly. So it is with our lives. If we keep looking back then we can never move forward.

What is hindering your today and your future? Are there things that you need to let go of in order to move forward in and with Christ? Looking forward may not always be clear and we may not always know where to go or what to do, but it encourages us to trust in God and lean on His guidance and know that our past is forgiven and that there is healing in His Name.

Fix your eyes on Jesus, follow Him, and you wont get lost.