Plowing Ahead

Plowing Ahead
Sunday, December 31, 2017
New Year’s Eve
Woodstream Church
Luke 9:57-62

Last week, the residents of Erie, PA experienced historical snow accumulation, and everyone’s best friend were snowplows.  Without the snow plows, there were no discernable paths to follow.  God’s Word is like a snowplow that can clear our lives of icy conditions, slippery paths and supply us with sufficient salt to keep us upright.  Christ makes an appeal to us to follow Him, but He makes the point that His path demands commitment and work.

The 3 candidates Christ described were not prepared or committed. They made excuses for not coming to serve as He commanded.  Christ did not call for them again.  His teachings, directives, pronouncements of blessings and curses were clear and straight to the heart. He does not waste His time or ours, and we are either ready to follow Him unconditionally, or fall away with excuses and promises of conditional obedience.

Christ used for discipleship the analogy of a farmer plowing a field with oxen.  It is hard work, requiring intense concentration to control the powerful oxen and single-bladed plow.  It demands focus ahead, not looking backward.  A number of people drop in and then drop out of the Kingdom of God.  They are seeking a party, to be served and to indulge their desires, rather than to work, serve and sacrifice.

As we labor for God, it sometimes appears others not following Him have it better.  We may lose friends and be separated from family, rather than gaining friends and drawing closer.  But Scripture informs us that the spiritual race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to those who endure to the finish.  We are to look forward, to keep our hearts and minds lifted up “to the hills from whence comes” our help, and to the Cross which grants salvation.  We are to keep plowing ahead until He says “Well done, good and faithful servant.”