Plow Straight

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey, someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."

And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."

And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke 9:57-62)

Being one who plowed the fields on my grandparents’ farm when I was a teenager, I can appreciate this Gospel’s reference to the plow.   There’s a need to keep those furrows straight for the planting of seeds.   Look behind, and the line curves or zigzags.  

Walking the straight and narrow is the expression used for keeping our noses clean and obeying the law, or our parents, or Jesus.   Especially with the latter, it’s important for us always to look forward and not look back especially at the mistakes we or other people have made.   Forward-looking leads to forgiveness and the right way to follow Jesus whose way is straight.

Jesus plows the ground on which we walk.   When we follow in his furrow, we aren’t left behind.   His trail to follow is the broken earth he leaves in his wake.  Sterile ground is made fertile by his words and wisdom.

Deacon David Pierce