HAND TO THE PLOW (Again...Once More)

Greetings Oh Ye Plowers of the Sod...

Years ago...I wrote a Rambling with this title...but...it rises up within me again...to encourage myself and others...to keep focus on the task at hand...and NOT LOOK BACK...but KEEP OUR HANDS TO THE PLOW.

This first picture is one of me...in my backyard many moons ago...preparing to plant a gigantic garden...with some friends. Smack dab in the center is my dad, Lonnie Boyd...supervising his son. Well..."Green Acres is the place to be...farm living is the life for me...". Not really...but I like the concept.

As you great the rows for the planting...unless you are in a creative mode...they should be straight rows. To till a straight row...whether by a gas operated tiller...or by a plow pulled by a mules...if you don't keep you eyes ahead...you will end up with crooked rows.

The second photo was a place called Readyville Mill...where we went to eat a fine breakfast and listened to a little music. I couldn't pass up the photo opportunity.

Someone once told Jesus..."I will follow You wherever You go." Have you ever made that declaration to the Lord? I know I have...multiple times over the past 41 years. Jesus responded to this person..."The foxes have holes and the birds of the hair have nests...but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." The implication is...if you are going to follow Him...you will not be settled in an earthly home...but on the go.

Jesus said to another..."Follow Me." A simple invitation...requiring a simple answer of yes Lord. But the person said..."Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." Seems to be a reasonable request...but Jesus responded back..."Allow/Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you..(1) go (2) and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." Wow...Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead...but you follow the living Lord.

NOTE: Following Jesus is an active participation in proclamation of the Kingdom of God...the proclamation of (1) righteousness (2) peace (3) joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17).

Another also said..."I will follow you Lord; BUT FIRST...permit me to say goodbye to those at home." Another seemingly reasonable request. 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 9:62...to read the full account go to Luke 9:57-62)

NOTE: In Jesus' teaching on provision...He tells us to "SEEK FIRST...(1) the Kingdom (2) and His righteousness..." with the cause and effect being..."and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33...read Matthew 6:25-34 for the teaching on anxiety and provision)

The third photo is a picture of dry, untilled land...that represents my sometimes dried, fallow ground..that needs a touch of the Master's plow.

The group Fireworks (with Marty McCall, Gary Pigg, Gwen Moore) had a song...called DON'T LOOK BACK. It starts of..."I should be a pillar of salt... I've LOOKED BACK so many times..."This is a reference to the Sodom and Gomorrah incident where judgement was rained down upon the area...and God's deliverance of Lot...his wife and family. For full details read Genesis 19. God's instructions were "...escape for your life! DO NOT LOOK BACK /BEHIND YOU..." (Genesis 19:17) Pretty simple...like the don't eat from the tree command to Adam and Eve. "But his wife...from behind him...LOOKED BACK...and she became a pillar of salt." I don't know what this pillar of salt was....either salt engulfing her and making her look like a pillar or turned into salt from the inside out...but one thing I do know...IT AIN'T GOOD.

One of my favorite albums (secular or Christian) is by Paul Clark called HAND TO THE PLOW. The cover is a picture of Paul's grandfather plowing. Unlike the staged pictures of me working...this picture was the real deal.

HAND TO THE PLOW

I've felt the pressures of temptation
I've heard the breathing lies of accusation
I know the world can be distracting
But if I keep one foot there I'm just acting
Well I can't think of a reason
Why I should look back
And I don't intend to start now
Gonna set my face like flint to Jesus and His Word
Yes, I'm keeping my HAND TO THE PLOW

I've felt the weight of condemnation
And how the devil twists my situation
My brother if you feel defeated
Let me remind you friend that you've been cheated
Well I can't think of a reason..why I should look back
And I don't intend to start now
Gonna SET MY FACE LIKE FLINT TO JESUS AND HIS WORD
Yes...I'M KEEPING MY HAND TO THE PLOW.

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Well...I hope this encourage you...who maybe are about to give up. I know that I fall into times of wondering if it is all worth it...this following Jesus thing...and sometimes I look around me and behind me...and see how seemingly...people who are not believers...have it better than me...BUT...I get my eyes on Jesus...the author and finisher of my faith...and keep my eyes on the prize...that upward call of God...and I continue on.

The author of Hebrews exhorts us..."and let us consider how to STIMULATE/PROVOKE one another to love and good deeds...not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some...but ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER...and all the more as you see the day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Love and Plowed Kisses
Rodney "Ain't Looking Back" Boyd