Luke
9:57-62
“No one who puts
his hand to the plow and looks back is fit
for the kingdom of God.”
(Luke
9:62)
Our Miniature Schnauzer, Max, never
meets a stranger. He believes every
person he encounters is looking for him.
That makes it a continual challenge to keep him focused when we go for a
walk. If there is someone nearby,
particularly behind him, he will turn around every three or four steps to make
sure they are still there. In order to
finish the walk, we often have to turn around to greet, then pass the person
behind us. We catch ourselves coming and
going sometimes.
The words of Jesus may again seem
harsh in today’s text. Surely, one might
argue, there are understandable distractions that cause even the most devoted
follower to turn back. Jesus knew the
stakes were high. He said that anyone
who followed him would have to take up their own cross. As a result, many were unwilling to honor
their commitments to him and turned back.
Peter came to the painful realization that it was often easy to utter
words of allegiance and commitment, but difficult to follow through.
The Lenten journey is not a path of
ease and distraction. Our focus is the
cross. To turn away is to cheapen the
price of grace.
Prayer: Help me have courage today,
Lord, to keep my eyes on the cross.
Amen.
Jim
Abernathy
No comments:
Post a Comment