Don’t Look Back

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.  Luke 9:62

Remember Lot’s wife. Luke 17:32

One of the greatest things I ever learned from running in track meets in grade school and high school was never to look back.  Even if you thought you were winning a race – don’t ever look back.  Looking back could be disastrous in a close race, because it is virtually impossible to keep your pace and maintain focus on the finish line while looking over a shoulder.  For a hurdler, looking back, or for that matter looking to the right or left could prove both calamitous and painful.  Even when the results are not pronounced, looking back creates a drag and slows us down – and in track, where time is measured in milliseconds, this could be the margin for a record breaking performance or missing qualifying.

In a spiritual sense, Jesus warned his followers about looking back.  He went so far as to say that one who aims to follow Him and is consumed with what is ‘behind’ him is not fit for the kingdom of God.  In another instance, as He taught his disciples about His second coming, He warned that when He returns there needn’t be concern for any ‘thing’ that was behind.  In the second instance, He raised Lot’s wife as an example of ‘what not to do…’

In Genesis 19, after Abraham interceded for the deliverance of his nephew Lot from the city of Sodom, God dispatched messengers to guide them safely through.  As the escaped the ruined city, they had simple instructions:  ‘Don’t Look Back!’

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.  Genesis 19:17

Lot’s wife, as she left the city, looked back, and the scripture says:

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.  Genesis 19:26

Jesus said, ‘Remember Lot’s wife…’  What does this mean?

Lot’s wife, because of her backward glance, became a pillar of salt!  In the middle of a desert land, she became a pillar of salt – a worthless pillar of salt!   God’s message to us is, ‘Don’t Look Back!’  When we ‘look back’ and linger too long over what is behind us, we become worthless and ineffective in the present, and we place our futures in grave jeopardy!

While it is very difficult , sometimes painful,  and heart wrenching to make a ‘clean break’ with our past, it is absolutely imperative for our spiritual well-being that we learn how to move forward, walk away , and resist the instinct to look back!  As painful as it may be we must address ourselves to the present and what lies ahead of us.  Looking backwards requires no faith!  Being enamored by our past, reveling in yesterday’s glory, or sulking in past failures disables us – it spiritually cripples us, it paralyzes us in our current development, and can even derail our relationships with God and others!

The very nature of our relationship with God is rooted in a faith that posits the He is the Great I AM (not the – I used to be, or I was).  Looking back only serves us and pleases God when it is qualified within a testimony, offered as an affirmation of our hope, or when it is the substance of a prayer of thanksgiving.  The temptation to look back, to linger (whether in grieving or reminiscing) in a past that we cannot change, wastes our ‘right now’, and undermines the faith that saves and transforms our lives!

Don’t Look Back!

Is God calling you from something, or someone?  It is absolutely certain, if you are saved, that God is drawing you from a past of brokenness, into a life of wholeness!  If your new life, however is to be joyful and productive – Don’t Look Back!  Don’t linger and brood over your past – get on with your life!  God has a bright and wondrous future for you!

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9

God, grant me the strength and the courage to live from now on.  Help me to accept the lessons from my past and be grateful for your tremendous grace and provision.  Beyond this Lord, give me a will to exercise my faith in Your awesome power for what lies ahead!  Help me to walk away from anything that doesn’t please you or lend itself to my spiritual, emotional, or physical well being!   Grant me the strength to trust you and not look back!

I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.