Don't Look Back!

No, this post isn't about the old "Boston" song from 1978 with the same title.
 

Don't look back

A new day is breakin'

It's been too long since I felt this way

I don't mind where I get taken

The road is callin'

Today is the day

How many times did I turn the radio up loud when I was young and sing along at the top of my lungs?  Probably too many to count and it may be a contributing factor as to why with each passing day, I grow increasingly hard of hearing!  This post is actually about finishing the job and is Biblical in nature.

Image Credit

I was thinking about this verse after planting my potatoes this weekend.  I'll be posting about the actual act of planting potatoes perhaps later this week.  This verse (Luke 9:62) from the Gospel of Luke is an important one.  Jesus was a master storyteller and as any great storyteller would, he knew his audience.  Many were engaged in agriculture and Jesus no doubt had their full attention when he related this concept to them. It was one they understood.

Do you ever feel like quitting?  Like just giving up?  When driving through New Orleans on Friday I saw a sign on the side of the road that said, "I messed up already.  2021 will be my year!"  I pointed it out to Tricia and we chuckled.  Undoubtedly, the person who erected that sign had already given up on their New Year's Resolutions one month in.  Can you relate?  I can.

Although I don't own a plow, I did have a 40 foot long by 4 foot wide row of potatoes to plant on Saturday, the weather was misting and overcast, and it was strenuous work.  I pulled back the mulch, dug holes four inches deep and 12 inches apart from the next hole, inserted the seed potato, covered it, and repeated the process.  Halfway through, I was ready to call it quits.  But I didn't.  I kept my eyes forward, for the reward comes in May when I dig up fresh, new potatoes!

Beginning a task but not finishing is never a proud moment and goodness, looking back while plowing can be disastrous.  When I was a kid growing up on the farm, we planted soybeans in rows.  Before the beans "shaded-out," (meaning: the canopy of the beans in one row met the canopy of the next to where you couldn't see the rows any longer - just a solid field of beans) we would cultivate them to turn over and kill the weeds growing between the rows.  You don't want weeds competing with soybeans for soil nutrients.  Cultivating involved carefully driving a tractor with a cultivator, ensuring the wheels of the tractor and the shanks of the cultivator remained between the rows.  If you looked back or got distracted, you risked running over the soybeans in front of you and uprooting and killing them.  This was ruinous to your crop of soybeans and your bottom line.

Likewise committing to do something, starting it, and then getting distracted is a poor testimony.  Finishing the task, putting in the necessary work, and remaining devoted to your pursuit involves being firm, steadfast, and immovable despite the circumstances.  Depending on what you are called to do, it is not easy - Not by a long shot.

Closest thing I have to a plow on our little farm!

In the Christian walk, Jesus calls His followers to set your heart and mind on Him and continue to walk with Him.  You must walk by faith and not by sight.  That is not an easy task.  You must not set your heart on Him and then look back to things of the world and get distracted.  Despite hardships and trials, you must not give up.  Only he who endures to the end will be saved. 

In Chapter 18 of the Gospel of Luke, an important question is asked, "When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?"  An important question and one that we must each answer for ourselves.  May we not be distracted.  May we not quit.  May He find us faithful!  May we keep our hands on the plow and finish plowing!