The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 9:62,
"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Luke is a chapter that confronts me with a very important personal issue. That issue is, of what value do I esteem the Lord? Do the choices I make reflect that I exist for him and his purposes, or do they reflect that I assume he exists for me and my purposes? Is he here to fulfill my life as I might define it or do I abandon all that I might seek in deference to him? Am I willing to set aside those things in life, to subordinate all I might find important to me for that which he has expressed is important to him? Do I hold him in that high a regard?
Tough questions! Here are more verses that raise the issue from the chapter: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." Luke 9:23-24. "He who is least among you all—he is the greatest." Luke 9:48.
The verse above, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God", follows an exchange Jesus had with each of three men. One man came to Jesus and told him he would follow the him. The Lord told him of the deprivation involved, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Luke 9:58. Would the man esteem the Lord in such a way he would be willing to give up the comforts this life has to offer?
Jesus told a second man to follow him. The man replied that he wanted to "go and bury my father." Luke 9:59. Jesus responds, telling the man to let the dead bury their own dead, that he should go evangelize. A little research into the period of mourning for the loss of a loved one in that culture will reveal what the man was saying to Jesus... he wanted to do the Lord's bidding only after he satisfied the family obligation of the expected extended period of mourning (not literally to simply participate in a funeral at the grave site). Would the man esteem the Lord in such a way he would be willing to give up the expectations of others?
A third man told Jesus he would follow him, but only after he went home to say good-by to his family, Luke 9:61. Would the man esteem the Lord in such a way he would be willing to give up even his family if that be required? Would he be fit for service in the kingdom of God? It appears that fitness for the task resides in the priority placed on it.
Here is a commitment to priority for the Lord in our lives that is seldom seen. Where we spend our prayer time asking God to bring about success in the very things the Lord tells us we should be willing to give up for him, it makes for difficult personal reflection. Over the years I have heard all kinds of comments on these passages that, in the end, allow me to zip right past them, get on my knees and pray for that job I'd really like to pursue, that spouse I'd like to find, healing and infirmity removed so that I won't be hampered, acceptance into the college I want, the Lord to take the really tough decisions I'm faced with so I don't have to wrestle with them...
Yet, these are things we should be praying for. What a perplexing issue! One thing stands as clear to me - the Lord, in spite of anything, ought to hold the highest esteem from me. If I have a clear view of him, if I come to know him as I should, he will become the priority in my life, the single highest object of love and devotion that captures my heart. If he doesn't hold that spot, then I have some soul-searching to do.
As I say, tough questions!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
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