The Kingdom of God

"And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Lk. 9:61,62). All I can say is, What a statement! Nothing could be more true. While it is a good thing to look back on what God has done for us, and it is not harmful to occasionally recall certain things in our lives; it is NOT good to look back at "the way things used to be," so to speak. It's really bad in fact, and it will surely freeze you right in your tracks. The wise proverb tells us, "Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this" (Eccl. 7:10). For anyone who is continually moving forward in Christ, there simply ARE NO "former days [that] were better than these." The present should always be our best days that we have had yet, and we should only look forward to better things to come. If our present days are not the best days we've had, then we need to "repent and do the first works" and move forward with the Lord (Rev. 2:5). If we look back on regrettable things, then that will certainly bring a sinking to the stomach, and if we look back on good things in our lives; well, they're gone now, so that will bring the same sinking feeling. The truth of the matter is that absolutely nothing in this life lasts except for the eternal Spirit of God that we've received, so we just need to put all of our eggs in that basket and keep them there. Isaiah told it like it is as far as what we need to think on: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Isa. 26:3). I assure you that looking back on the way things could have been, or the way things were, is not a good recipe for peace. Keeping our minds in tune with what God is saying and doing here and now on the other hand, is a wonderful recipe for peace; because God is always preparing good for us in the here and now (Rom. 8:28). Solomon, who had everything that could be wished for, had this report about the temporal state of things pertaining to this life: "Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit" (Eccl. 2:17). "Vanity and vexation of spirit" is translated there to mean "empty, futile and the pursuit of wind." It is indeed an empty and hopeless endeavor to try to hold onto or regain the things of this life that are past, or even things that are present for that matter.

Solomon had the hope of the resurrection to look forward to, but he had nothing that was presently eternal that he could sink his teeth into. Therefore he was much grieved about the fleeting nature of everything in this life. Jesus died and rose again to give us something eternal here and now, to accompany the same hope of the resurrection from the dead. In fact the power of the Spirit of God is what WILL raise us from the dead one day if we continually purify ourselves by that same power while we are here (Rom. 8:11; I Jn. 3:2,3). Because of the great price that Jesus paid for our redemption, we have access to all eternal things that are spiritually tangible to us here and now (Eph. 1:3; Eph. 2:18; Heb. 6:5). I believe that is worth us keeping our minds in the here and now, and "seeking first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness" (Mat. 6:33). We simply cannot move forward with God if we are looking backward. Even natural law shows us that if we look backward while attempting to walk forward, we will invariably trip over something and probably be injured in some way. If we look back long enough at how 'bad' things used to be, we may end up becoming resentful about something or someone. If we look back at how 'good' things used to be, we will probably become depressed fairly quickly. It just isn't in line with the leading of God's Spirit to look back, as the scriptures have confirmed to us here. The Bible tells us, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons [and daughters] of God" (Rom. 8:14). It is certain that God's Spirit is leading us in a forward direction which will eventually result in the resurrection of the dead, which is the "one hope of salvation" (Eph. 4:4; I Thess. 5:8; Rom. 8:23; Philip. 3:21; I Pet. 1:9; I Jn. 3:2,3). That same resurrection of the dead will take place at the second coming of the Lord to this world, and we cannot prepare for that event by dwelling on the past events of this life. Jesus speaking of that day gave us full assurance of the same with this memorable statement: "In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife" (Lk. 17: 31,32). And what did Lot's wife do? Read it for yourself; she looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:12-26). Yeah, it's that serious. Amen.