God Does Not Honor Backward Glances

We've all heard someone say "I'm a Christian, but..." Heck, we may have even said it ourselves. What we usually mean when we say such things is this: "I say I follow Jesus, but I want things my own way." At the risk of becoming very unpopular, I'm going to flat out say that there is no such thing as a Christian who gets his or her own way. You can't be a "Christian, but." A wise woman of God at the last church we served at told me, and it's true, if you add "but" after a statement, you're cancelling out everything you said before "but." When we say such a terrible phrase, we're all but admitting that God's power, healing, and forgiveness have no real place in our lives, and we're in control, not Him. God has no room for backward glances. Consider for a moment the History of God and backward glances. When Lot's wife was told "Flee and don't look back," she couldn't help but look back at what she'd just been rescued from, and remained forever looking back, a Pillar of salt bearing witness to the destruction of Sodom. The Israelites, wandering in the desert grumbled and complained about how much they had to eat in Egypt, but forgot how, mere months or years before, from their own lips they were crying out for rescue from God. Not one of that generation over 20 reached the Promised Land. In the New Testament, Jesus was confronted by many who had a "but," to which he replied in kind (see the verse below). We're either all in, or we're not in. This doesn't mean that we don't stumble, fall or sin. Proverbs 24:16 reminds us " for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity." It's about forward momentum. It doesn't mean the work is not hard. It mean's we're either doing the work, putting our shoulder to the plow and moving forward, or we looking back, and getting little to nothing done. Jesus says, if we do this, we're not worthy of Him. We have to be all in, or we're not in. Don't be afraid of falling...but use that as forward momentum to fall toward Christ. Fall forward, and get back up again. Crawl if you must. But don't turn back. Luke 9:7-625 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”