Say Goodbye and Move on

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

SAY GOODBYE AND MOVE ON

Luke 9:61-62

61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." 

NIV

Here we have the third man in this series of answers by Jesus. This man is somewhat like the first in the sense he was indicating he would follow Jesus, unlike the second man whom Jesus told to follow him. But the response of Jesus to this comment of the man is different than the first man. Here we see this man wanted to follow Jesus but first he desired to say good-by to his family. Did Jesus say don’t bother saying goodbye because if you do, you are not fit to follow me? Not exactly. In the example of putting his hand to the plow and looking back, it meant much to an agricultural people. If a man was walking behind a plow which would have been a hand type plow pulled by oxen most likely and he did not keep his eye on the furrow he was plowing but looked away, the furrow would not be straight and his field would not be fit to plant. But this is not want Jesus was talking about. He did not say don’t go back, but don’t look back. We have another story about two man that have similar markings, Elijah and Elisha. But the story is a little different in that as Elisha was in fact plowing and Elijah threw his mantle over him as to pass on his ministry to him, Elisha asked to go back and say go by to his family first and Elijah consented. What Elisha did was to kill his oxen, use the plow for fire wood, and cook the oxen for a feast for his family and when he has finished left to follow Elijah. We also have the story of Lot’s wife looking back, not going back, but looking back mostly with a longing for what she had left. This is the lesson Jesus was teaching this man as well as us. When we decide to follow Jesus it is fine to say goodbye to the things of the past, but it is not alright to look back with a longing for them. It is not alright to want the things of the world. It is most likely Jesus knew that if this man returned to his family he would have never leave them to follow Jesus. The pull of the world and its ways are very strong, and if we try to follow Jesus and hang on to some of the past life and its ways our walk will be like that furrow, not very straight. Once we decide to follow Jesus we have to follow Jesus, not wondering about the things we once had, or did, or wanted to do, but our path must be straight. If we are distracted by the world in some way, our path will not be straight, we will wander all over our field and then it is not fit for having the truth planted within. The point is there should be no looking back, just say goodbye, burn the oxen and plow and move on to follow Jesus.