Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62

The time is almost here. Our snow blowers will be replaced by lawn mowers and our snow shovels with garden spades. Unfortunately, the time is ALMOST here. We are more than ready to put our hands to the plow, but we would much prefer it not be a snow plow!

We want the piles of snow to completely disappear and the soggy ground to dry up. We know the time is coming when the sun will be bright, the grass green, and the days warm. But right now is the time of cloudy skies, dirty piles of snow, and mud-caked boots.

Perhaps now is the time, before we plow, to take a look at things. Let us consider ourselves at the edge of the garden or field that is to be plowed. As we begin to turn the soil we focus our eyes on one spot at the other end of the field and keep our eyes on that spot as we plow so our furrow will be straight. But when we reach the end of that first furrow, an interesting thing happens. When we reach the other end of the field, we pick up our plow, turn around, and begin to plow another furrow back to where we started. It is when we turn around that we see our progress. We don’t look back while in the process of plowing, but at the end of each row. And though we’ve tried to keep our eyes on the one spot and have done our best to keep straight and true, we sometimes see where we have dug into a rock, an old stump, or perhaps just slightly veered off course, the result being a less than perfectly straight furrow. If we had looked back in mid-course of that furrow, it would only have made things worse. But at the end of the field, we not only look at what we have done, but we also once again look ahead, set our eyes on a spot at the other end of the field, and prepare to plow yet another furrow. Only this time we take into account what ground we have already covered, knowing where we might need to adjust our paths so that our next furrow may be more true.

On Easter Sunday we looked at the resurrection as a time of new beginnings and fresh starts. A time when what happened in the past no longer mattered. As we say good-bye to this winter and prepare for Spring, we would do well to remember the words of Jesus. Learn from the past BEFORE starting out on a new path. And once you have set your eyes on the Kingdom of God, be aware of past challenges, learn from them, but don’t look back and dwell on them. Keep your eyes on the horizon, try to be mindful of the weaknesses and challenges ahead, and strive to keep your path straight and true. The more you do this, the less the imperfections of the past will show. Once you have produced a crop in your garden, the only one that will remember the imperfections will be you. God will be too busy looking at what you have grown.

See You In Church,

Pastor Jim

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