Luke 9:61–62 Another said, “I’ll follow you, sir, but first let me tell my family goodbye.” Jesus said to him, “Whoever starts to plow and looks back is not fit for God’s kingdom.”
A person must not look back. Note three things.
a. This man offered himself to Jesus. He was willing to follow Jesus. Something about the Lord touched his heart or else the Lord’s teaching and ministry appealed to him. He saw the enormous benefit to men and to society as Christ ministered to the needs of men. In either case, he made a decision to follow Jesus. He was willing.
b. The man had a double allegiance. Note the words but and first. The man had thought through his decision and concluded that he was willing to follow Christ, but something else needed to be handled first: a family affair, a business affair, an employment affair, a financial affair—some other concern was put first (as is the case with so many).
Something else could have been concerning the man. He may have wanted his family’s counsel and advice, to see how they felt about his decision. Perhaps he felt their approval was needed. Then again, he could have been putting his love for family before his love for Christ. Perhaps he was attached to his family more than he was attached to Christ. Family should be our first attachment after our attachment to Christ. Christ is to be first in our lives.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Mt. 6:33).
“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Lu. 16:13).
“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth” (Jos. 24:14).
c. Jesus’ judgment was descriptively stated—stated in such a way that once heard or read, it would be difficult to forget: “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” The man got the point, and he probably never forgot it. It more than likely pricked his conscience and disturbed him often as the saying flashed across his mind. He had willed to follow Christ, but he “had looked back”; therefore, he was not fit for the Kingdom of God.
The idea is this. A man who begins to plough and then looks back …
• ploughs a crooked row. No row (person) is ever straight, not like it should be. (Each row or person receives only partial teaching.)
• ploughs an inconsistent field. The field under his care is never matured; it never receives consistent work
• ploughs in a spirit lacking total commitment. He may turn away at any time, leaving a job unfinished
• ploughs but allows distractions and disruptions which affect the crops (the plants are not cared for)
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Mt. 7:21).
“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Mt. 7:26–27).
“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (He. 10:38).
“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (Js. 1:8).
“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Ro. 14:12).
I HOPE YOU RECEIVED GREATLY FROM THIS QUICK STUDY.
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PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM