Plow Forward

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” - Jesus Christ, Luke 9:62


It helps to think a little about plowing to better understand this passage. If my heart is fixed on what is not straight forward then my eyes are always looking back. If I was to plow while looking back I'd never plow in a straight direction forward. Many religious people claim to "plow" while their hearts are fixed on a god (and christ) of their own making. They plow in vain because their hearts have not been turned towards the true Christ and are therefore blind to the kingdom of God which is the straight and narrow path directly ahead. If Christ is in us then we plow with eyes and heart forward. Perfectly? No. But ultimately? Yes. (parallel passage Psalm 127:1 "Except the Lord build the house, the builders labor in vain.") Philippians 1:5-6 " because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

also this verse from Luke 9 is a response from Christ from those who claim they want to follow Christ but have other priorities to take care of first. Basically these people are saying they'll follow Christ as long as they can still have other god's before Him (a violation of the First Commandment) or that they'll seek the kingdom of God as long as they don't have to "seek it first" (Matt.6:33). Like many people today they're willing to "hang out" with Jesus, go through some motions and offer up some lip service, but they're not ready to make Him Lord of their lives... they're not ready for an eternity of worship.

To borrow from a quote of Driscoll's book, DOCTRINE, Tim Keller explains worship as such: "To glorify something or someone is to praise, enjoy, and delight in them. When something is useful you are attracted to it for what it can bring you ...or do for you. But if it is beautiful, then you enjoy it simply for what it is. Just being in its presence is its own reward. To glorify someone is also to serve or defer to him or her. Instead of sacrificing their interests to make yourself happy, you sacrifice your interests to make them happy. Why? Your ultimate joy is to see them in joy."

"The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever."

Are you ready to plow forward?

Happy Dependence Day

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God; Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (1CO 10:31; 1PE 4:11; REV 1:6; 2PE 3:1; EPH 3:21; REV 7:12; ROM 11:36)

"A life spent in the service of Christ is the happiest life a man can spend on earth." ~Philip Henry

The High Cost of Free Grace

"These men without possession or power, these strangers on earth, these sinners, these followers of Jesus, have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are merciful. As if their own needs and their own distress were not enough, they take upon themselves the distress and humiliation and sin of others. They have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the wronged, the outcast, and all who are tortured with anxiety. They go out and seek all who are enmeshed in the toils of sin and guilt. No distress is too great, no sin too appalling for their pity. If any man falls into disgrace, the merciful will sacrifice their own honor to shield him, and take his shame upon themselves. In order that they may be merciful they cast away the most priceless treasure of human life, their personal dignity and honour. For the only honour and dignity they know is their Lord’s own mercy, to which alone they owe their very lives."

When I first read these words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship I wept. I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps it was a combination of much of my life falling well short of this as well as noting the poetic beauty of a life lived in constant worship of Christ; a life thoroughly Christian.
No doubt many of us have come across inspiring messages from ministers, martyrs, and Mel Gibson movies that illustrate a radical Christian life. Something stirs in us for a while but the culture (even much church culture) gives us a "reality check" telling us to "bring our expectations back down to earth." But the truth is radical Christian living is the only type of call God commands of us.
In the gospel letters we see time and time again many people willing to follow Christ in some light sense of the word. As long as he passed out free loaves and fishes, performed miracle healings, or was going to shake up the political landscape people would pursue Him. But every time he acquired a crowd He put them to the test. He always challenged the would-be followers to die to everything in this world they clinged to and the overwhelming response He received ranged from the dispersing of crowds to people wanting to stone Him to death.
At the end of Luke 9, three men approach Jesus interested in following Him. The first said, "I will follow you wherever you go." Christ's answer, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" showed that this volunteer had not considered the high cost of free grace. The next two men to approach Jesus spoke of their willingness to follow Him after taking care of some loose ends but Christ said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Through three years of ministry Christ proved very succesful at persuading men not to follow Him. Indeed the costly call of grace is offensive to the natural man.
To those of us who are new creatures in Christ we have a ministry and calling that is no less radical in divine nature than the calling of those who followed Christ during His time on earth. The call of discipleship is a gift of grace and is therefore inseperable from grace. Either a man is on fire for Christ or he is just blowing smoke.