Following The Lord – Part III

-September 5, 2023-

Good morning, happy Tuesday,

“And another said, ‘Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Now one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’”

(Luke 9:61-62).

The cost of following Christ as a disciple boils down to one word: everything. Once we commit to following our Savior, the devil will fire his heavy artillery at us with indomitable force. He will use jobs, hobbies, money, possessions, and people to dissuade us from following the Lord.

There is strong pull by our family members and friends, but the Lord says to us, “Follow Me.” This third man said, “I will follow You, but let me first bid farewell to those at my house.” The Lord knows that once we go back we may not come back. Just one more day, turns into a week, then a month, or even a year more.

Jesus uses a common farming analogy in teaching on discipleship: a plow. He says, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Imagine what the field would look and be like with a partial plowing. Nothing would be completed. The crops could not be planted and there would be no harvest.

Paul said of Demus who had left him, “For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia” (2 Timothy 4:10). We can’t look back, we can’t turn back, we can’t go back. Jesus said in Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot’s wife.” She looked back and became a pillar of salt. She never made past the Sodom city limits. It offers a warning to us all.

Let us choose to follow Jesus, no turning back. He is worthy of our fullest devotion. The hymn writer wrote, “I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.” The rewards are eternal.

Have a blessed day following Jesus all the way. Stay safe and healthy.

Following onward and upward with no excuses or regrets,

Dean