One Direction

Read: Luke 9:57-62

Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God. Luke 9:62

IN WORD

Few invitations lead with warnings of the difficulties involved, but Jesus was always realistic with potential followers. The Kingdom is not for people who want a comfortable, easy life. It’s for people who want a meaningful life anchored in truth. And to pursue that kind of life necessarily involves coming up against all its contradictions, both internal and external, many of them hostile. So the follower of this King should be prepared for some hardships, free from distracting obligations, and clearly focused on the goal. Looking back is not an option.

Jesus presented a picture to make His point. A farmer doesn’t pull the plow; the ox handles that. The farmer guides the plow, and the only way to guide something in a straight line is to look forward while doing it. If the farmer turns around and looks behind, the furrow will be crooked. That’s not the best way to work a field. The farmer won’t cease to be a farmer; he just won’t be a very good one. He’ll need to learn his craft a little better to really be fit for the job.

Jesus isn’t telling potential followers, “Suffer hardship or don’t bother coming at all.” But to experience Kingdom life the way we are designed to experience it, we’ll have to be single-minded about it. The Kingdom isn’t about what already happened; it’s about what is to come. And we’ll need to keep our eyes looking ahead if we want to see it well.

IN DEED

Too many Christians are weighed down by the things in their past—or by the peripherals and distractions going on around them. Focus forward, diligently looking to see what God is doing and how you can be a part of it. Know that it requires constant attention and may involve hardship. Those who are looking for a comfortable life will find the Kingdom uncomfortable for now. But when you gaze into God’s plan, everything else fades into the background. Focus brings clarity. And it brings the Kingdom into view.

ADDITIONAL READING: Philippians 3:12-14

Give me a person who says, “This one thing I do,” and not “These fifty things I dabble in.”

D. L. MOODY