Do You Not See It?

Did you know there are almost 300 songs across all genres with the lyric "rearview" in them? At least, according to lyrics.com. 

When I met my husband, none of his vehicles had a rearview mirror. (He kept them and threw them on when taking his vehicles for state inspection. Inspection over, off they came!)

In 2008, Congress passed the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, requiring all newly manufactured vehicles in the United States to have back-up camera technology. It was signed into law by George W. Bush.

Jesus was talking about looking back, however, long before Pearl Jam or the U.S. Government or even my rebel-hearted husband. In Luke 9:62, Jesus warns us:

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

I would, first, like to say, the Holy Spirit speaks to my heart. As I read Scripture, I get a "pay attention to this" sort of nudge, or a scenario pops into my head, one in which the Scripture I'm reading was or might be demonstrated or maybe, was not demonstrated and should have been. Sometimes, the same Scripture keeps coming up in conversation or in my reading. I have a burning desire to share with others what I learn through God's Word or through my experiences (victories and failures), but I also know that when the Holy Spirit keeps speaking things into my being, it's because He's doing something in me, personally. I am never writing or speaking from the position of someone who's got all this stuff down pat. I don't. I won't. Until heaven, when we'll all get it.

Back to the plowing. This is one of those verses that has come to me in one manner or another three times over the past three days; so I'm wondering what it is that has got me checking my rearview and what is all of that looking back doing to my future. And isn't that part of what Scripture is meant to do? To cause us to examine ourselves and to seek to bring our lives into alignment with God's Torah and the way Jesus fulfilled it perfectly? I haven't quite figured out the personal part of all that, but I can share with you what God has been saying to me about the perils of living life in the rearview.

First of all, you can't focus on what is in front of you when you're looking at what's behind you. Whether you're turned around, looking over your shoulder, or you've got your eyes raised to that little (very tiny) reflective box hanging from your large (w-i-d-e) windshield, you have taken your full attention off of your goal and the straightest road to meet it. And if your target is to become more like Jesus, you can't use who you used to be to set your sight. Additionally, you're only getting a portion of the picture. Looking over your shoulder, you can't get the entire view; looking in the rearview, you can only see a portion of history. You really don't get a genuine, unadulterated perspective on anything -- not the past or the future. Hindsight is really only 20/20 when we've completely stopped moving forward and we're staring fully at the past in light of the present.

Secondly, looking back disrupts your posture. You've either got your neck and back all twisted up or your head slightly off to one side and tilted up. Try staying that way for an hour or two --especially if you're over 50-- and see what that does for back pain. You are no longer positioned to progress, in fact, you are more likely to sustain an injury or injure someone else. Perpetually focusing on what used to be or "this is the way it always happens," can cause us to strain under the weight of disappointments and failures, or dump them on others, burdening them with our bondage. Chains chafe and heaviness can suffocate. Taking your eyes off the road causes accidents; looking back as one seeks to plow and prepare the ground for seed, can result in a fall or broken ankle. My worst injuries have caused the least amount of pain when I have focused on Jesus' redemptive power and healing rather than on the injury itself.

When plowing, the idea is to create straight, deep furrows. Keeping each line straight keeps the plow straight on your next pass and reduces the amount of time and energy required to plow an entire field. Keeping the furrows deep ensures there will be a good layer of soil overturned for small plants to take root and soaking rains to reach thirsty roots. When driving, you certainly want to stay within the lines and keep the rubber on the road. Anything less, anything like inattention or the wrong focal point can cause big problems and make the work a whole lot more difficult. Imagine sitting by the road for hours, waiting for a tow to pull you from your ditch. Imagine working for days only to find distraction has caused you to plow haphazardly; you're going to have to repeat the process. Does that strike a chord with any of you? Maybe God is taking you around the block once again because you simply refuse to wholeheartedly do the work --and stay in the work-- each time the opportunity to forgive or love your enemies has presented itself in the past. You've kept your eyes on things that have happened in the past and it is affecting the quality of your future.

Lastly, and this is the one that really had me going WOW! If the past becomes my point of view, how in the world, will I ever see the new that Jesus promises? He says He makes all things new. We are each a new creation in Christ Jesus. The new our God can do is not just a new version of the same old stuff, but new, beyond imagination: rivers in the desert, and more than our wildest dreams can hope. If my head is turned toward the past, my eyes are unable to fully see the future as Christ creates it; I miss the vision of what could be, the places He might call me to, the healing He might have for others through my obedience to Him. Endless possibility! gone, because it doesn't exist in my past, it exists in where Jesus is drawing me. 

Where are you looking today? Are you "fit" to receive the new that Jesus has before you? If your eyes are on Him, you are.

I'm a Sheep. And So Are You.

What can I say, I'm a sheep. Now, sheep have gotten a really bad rap, particularly when it comes to our political inclinations. Every side thinks the others are blindly following, unable to think for themselves. Every group believes others are herds of sheep being led to their peril by deviant shepherds (who, btw, are sheep themselves). A few weeks back, I wrote an article (The Life We Live) about the things that culturally and societally keep us thinking in ways opposite kingdom-mindedness. As I read John 10:27, 28 this morning, I realized this, too, was one of those things:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

No one wants to be a sheep. To be a sheep in our society is to be a follower --a mindless, subservient, weak follower, destined for slaughter. However, the fact of the matter is, we are all sheep. Notice, Jesus says, "My sheep." If He identifies some sheep as His, there must be others, right? There sure are, every other person who isn't His. 

Scripture calls us sheep for lots of reasons: sheep are social in nature, sheep require the care and protection of a shepherd, sheep have a terrible sense of direction, sheep aren't known for being incredibly discerning (except when it comes to their shepherd's voice) --just to name a few. Sure, we tell ourselves we are self-sufficient: I don't need anyone! Sure, we tell ourselves we are autonomous: No one tells me what to do! But all of that blustering usually turns out to be just that when something rocks our world. We're on the phone to the first person who will listen or posting our feelings all over social media. We...are...sheep. The interesting is this, though we cannot choose our nature (in the sense that we are sheep), we can choose our Shepherd. If Jesus has His sheep, and Jesus gives His sheep eternal life, and His sheep will not perish, and no one can take His sheep away from Him, to whom do all of those who are not His sheep belong? and what do they get?

There is another shepherd, an enemy, really. He is not equal to the Good Shepherd, Jesus. He cannot retain his sheep if they are marked with the Good Shepherd's mark, nor does he really want to --at least, not for their sakes. He's not in it for the sheep; he's in it for himself. He will use up his sheep and leave them lying where they fall. He will deceive them into joining his fold like a collector accumulating possessions for his own celebrity. He will use those in his fold to attract more. He will ignore their injuries and illnesses. He will trap them and has nothing to offer them but the worst of deaths. He is really a hungry lion in disguise, wanting only to consume and devour, satisfying nothing but his appetite. He will lose in the end, and all those with him. He is the shepherd of this world, the shepherd of all those who have not chosen to be shepherded by the One who came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many sheep. 

I am a sheep. You are a sheep. Who is your shepherd?

Photo courtesy stickandcaneshop.co.uk