DON'T LOOK BACK

Hello dear ones. I was talking with my son tonight after he came home from his job at U.P.S.
We were talking about the days events about work and school and life in general. Phillip is 19 years old and is growing into a fine young man. In our conversation...we were talking about when I was 19 years old...I was working at Samsonite factory and how hard the work was... and also how it was at this age that I was at a CROSSROADS. I was on the cusp of becoming a follower of Jesus...but I was in the throes of an eternal struggle between the flesh and the call of the Spirit. I was hooked on sniffing chemicals for transient highs into a dream state that would always result in a nightmare. I had been in church most of my life...from the Cradle Roll until I was well into my teens. As many readers of these Ramblings know...in the fall of 1970...I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour...and my life has never been the same. I quit the band I was in (The Blind Distortion)...went away to Tennessee Temple Bible School in Chattanooga to get my Bachelor of Bible so I could become an Evangelist...and had also received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Read A New Song by Pat Boone and The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson for influences during this time).

By 1972...I was in worse condition than I was before I became a Christian. I was getting drunk on booze...get high on drugs...sniffing chemicals again...more than pre-Christ.

I had PUT MY HAND TO THE PLOW...and LOOKED BACK...and the fields that I was plowing were becoming a CROOKED MESS!

"And He said to another...Follow Me...but he said...Permit me first to go and bury my father. But He said to him...allow the dead to bury their own dead; but AS FOR YOU...go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God. And another said...I will follow You, Lord...but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home. But Jesus said to him...No one after putting his HAND TO THE PLOW...and LOOKING BACK...is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:58-62)

Lookin' back will get ya every time. Genesis 19 is the famous story of Sodom and Gomorrah. To some it is the prove text against homosexuality (ie. Sodomites where the men of the city...the men of Sodom...surrounded the house...both young and old...all the people from every quarter...and they called to Lot and said to him...Where are the men who came to your tonight? Bring them out to us that WE MAY HAVE RELATIONS WITH THEM.
(Genesis 19:1-5)

God was shown compassion by God...as He provided A WAY OUT of the wickedness and wicked city...prior to destruction because of the wickedness of men on men relations. In Genesis 19:15,16,16,26...we see the story unfolding...

Morning dawned and the angels urged Lot.

ANGELS: Up and take your wife and your two daughters, who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.

Lot HESITATED...so the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his daughters...for the COMPASSION OF THE LORD was upon him... and they BROUGHT HIM OUT...and put him outside the city.

ANGEL: Escape for your life! DO NOT LOOK BEHIND YOU...and DO NOT STAY anywhere in the valley; ESCAPE to the mountains...lest you be SWEPT AWAY.

The destruction came because of the wickedness as he RAINED DOWN brimstone and fire...and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground...BUT...his wife...from behind...LOOKED BACK (exactly what she was told NOT to do). The cause and effect of LOOKING BACK...she became a PILLAR OF SALT.

The group FIREWORKS (pictured in the collage along with their debut album of the same name...had a song called DON'T LOOK BACK.
"When you put your HAND TO THE PLOW...DON'T LOOK BACK..."

Well...in 1972...I LOOKED BACK. I threw away the peace and relationship with God out the window...and I developed a MORTON'S SALT MENTALITY...and believe me...WHEN IT RAINED...IT POURED.

As many of you know...something usually triggers these little Ramblings...either of a personal nature...or of some event I have observed....or what I have overheard something someone said.

Tonight...I am overwhelmed at how the devil is running rough shod over some believers. I have empathy and relate to fallen saints. I relate to how people can take the greatest gift of their lives...and they throw it away for momentary pleasure.

I guess that is why I teach the Word of God and write these Ramblings. I hope something that is said or written...will encourage someone who may be ready to give up...or are going through a hard time...will not LOOK BACK but will LOOK FORWARD into the cross...and into the Word of God...and BE ENCOURAGED NOT TO GIVE UP OR QUIT. We are in a RACE...and it is not a SPRINT...but a MARATHON. Eric Liddle the Missionary to China... could feel His pleasure when he ran...and God is pleased with us as we CONTINUE TO RUN THE RACE TO THE FINISH.

God has the medicine for our sickness. Here are some prescriptions for quitting and giving up.

"FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned...and confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses." (I Timothy 6:12 The Amplified Bible)

"I have fought the good (worthy, honorable, and noble) fight; I have FINISHED THE RACE...I have KEPT {firmly held) THE FAITH." (II Timothy 4:7 The Amplified Bible)

"I do not consider, brethren...that I have captured and made it my own (see Philippians 3:10-12 to see what the it is)...[YET]...but one thing I do--it is my one aspiration...forgetting what LIES BEHIND...and STRAINING FORWARD...to what LIES AHEAD...I PRESS ON TOWARD the goal to wind the [supreme and heavenly] prize...to which God in Christ Jesus is CALLING US UPWARD." (Philippians 3:13-14)

We are called to fight the good fight of faith...to confess the good confession of faith...to finish the race...to keep the faith...to forget what lies behind...and to strain forward to what lies ahead...to press on toward the upward calling. We cannot do this...if we have PUT OUR HAND TO THE PLOW AND LOOK BACK.

The first picture in this Rambling is a picture of an album by Paul Clark called HAND TO THE PLOW. Paul Clark is in the top five of my favorite all time musicians/artists. The song HAND TO THE PLOW is a funky little mixture of rock, jazz, funk...encouraging us to keep the hand to the plow and keep looking forward.



HAND TO THE PLOW
I felt the pressures of temptation
How the devil twist my situation
I know the world can be distracting
But if I keep one foot there...I'm...just...acting
I can't think of a reason why I should LOOK BACK
And I don't intend to start now
Gonna keep my face like FLINT to Jesus and His Word
I'm KEEPIN' MY HAND TO THE PLOW

Of course...Jesus is our example...as He had ever opportunity and reason to LOOK BACK...but did not.

"Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony of the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance---unnecessary weight--and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the RACE that is set before us...looking awy [FROM ALL THAT WILL DISTRACT...to JESUS...Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also the Finisher..[bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He (Jesus)...for the joy [OF OBTAINING THE PRIZE]..that was set BEFORE Him...ENDURED THE CROSS (DBR)...despising and ignoring the shame...and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. " (Hebrews 12:1-3 The Amplified Bible)

Realize this..."And I am convinced and sure of this very thing...that He Who BEGAN a good work IN YOU...will CONTINUE until the day of Jesus Christ--right up to the time of His return---DEVELOPING [that good work] and PERFECTING and BRINGING IT TO FULL COMPLETION in you." (Philippians 1:6)

FINAL THOUGHTS.....FINALLY!!!

Nuff said!

Love and Persevering Kisses
Rodney "Pass By The Salt Please" Boyd