Sometimes for all our good intentions we just don’t see what we should.
Luke 9: 61-62 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
I’ve spent more time than I would care to admit cultivating corn. Not so much anymore but when I was growing up we ran something called a go-dig. Once the corn was up and big enough we pulled this implement down the row and it dug out the weeds and turned the soil. This removed competition for nutrients and moisture for the corn and aerated the soil. The corn’s growth always surged after we cultivated, but there were risks.
If you weren’t careful and got off the row your go-dig would dig up corn, wiping out the very plants you were trying to benefit. This was bad and tremendously frowned upon by the supreme commander, my dad. He always told me, “You can’t watch behind you, where you’ve been, you have to look forward.” This scripture speaks directly to where I come from.
Even with everything Jesus had done, all the miracles and feeding of the thousands of people and teaching, there were still people who just didn’t get it. They were too trapped by the things of this world, tilling the land and family obligations to see what was right in front of them. There were those that came forward even though they didn’t understand what was needed at the time and there were those that flat out refused to provide it. Still Jesus was resolute and he kept going, always moving forward, always on the right path, even as he moved toward his own death.
The challenge for us back then, just as it is today, is to see and realize what’s plainly in view. The clutter and busyness, although the world says differently, just really don’t matter when you’re talking about this stuff. Jesus tells us; put me first, behind no one and no thing. Our lives today and for eternity would be better if we would heed that advice.
The Everyday Question: Priorities are a heck of a thing and unavoidable but what gets in your way when you try to put God first?
I hope you liked this and it was food for thought. Please pass it along, as you see fit, to your friends who might be trying to prioritize their lives.
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