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

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