What If I Look Back?
Daily Reading: (Luke 9:62):
“Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
The way the enemy likes to work is to get us to doubt our salvation, what we possess in Jesus, so that we miss living in the abundant victory that we have and the security in belonging to and being in Christ. The enemy will try to use your past to condemn you in your present and make you worried about your future.
If you question your fitness for kingdom service you are less likely to be involved in the blessings of kingdom building (Luke 9:62). That’s the enemy’s goal.
Is Jesus calling you to a life of unrelenting service or you are not in? It might seem that Jesus is just looking for an all-star work hard team for Jesus. The few, the proud, the…. no that is the slogan for the Marines.
If it was all about the work, work, work, work, work then Jesus would be contradicting himself when he says:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28).
See the problem? In (Luke 9:62) Jesus exhorts one to “plow” and in (Matthew 11:28) he says “rest”. Plowing is hard, back-breaking work. You can’t plow and rest at the same time, so which is it?
Why does Jesus say “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God”? These words about plowing are not for us. Read the verse in context and you will see that He is speaking to people who are not following Him (Luke 9:57-61). Your fitness for the kingdom comes when you follow Jesus, when you first believe.
If you look at the verse again you will see that it says “fit for service.” The words “for service” aren’t in the Bible! Fit or well placed (euthetos) (basileia) kingdom.
“Fit for the kingdom.” What Jesus is saying is the one who receives His grace is going to participate in the supernaturally abounding life of God. The takeaway is not “work hard for Jesus, prove your worth in the kingdom through acts of service.
The takeaway is, “Are you ready for the adventure of life shared with Christ?” Jesus is offering you His life.
#KingdomFitness, #Luke9, #acts433.com