No Regrets

"Anyone who puts a hand to the plow then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God." Luke 9:62 (NLT)

    Jesus makes it very apparent to his followers that those who make the choice to go after him must not look back. I'm sure many of us spend a considerable amount of time looking back for all sorts of reasons. The chief reason why we tend to look back at what might have been is regret. We could have done this, should have done that, and so forth, but in living for Christ we can't afford to let regret seep into our consciousness.


     Take Lot's wife in Genesis 19:26 for example, she knew the only way for their salvation was to flee Sodom and Gomorrah and not look back in the process. However, for some reason she couldn't get herself to not look back, all the memories of a warped past were enough to have her realize she just couldn't leave it all behind so she turned around and became a pillar of salt.


       Jesus is not saying that we can't look back fondly on the memories, He's saying that don't let the memories impede your forward progress. In pursuing God's will for your life, you will undoubtedly face challenges and obstacles, but those instances are not to point you back to your past... they are to propel you towards what lies ahead. Instead of thinking of what should have been, think instead of what's going to be. It's a much better perspective to have. After all, what kind of progress can really be made by constantly looking back? That was Jesus' point all along.