Luke 9:62b

"No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

When Jesus said in John 12 that the hour had come for the Son of Man to be glorified, the Greek verb tense was perfect, meaning that it was destined before it ever happened. In other words, it was a one-way street. There was no turning back. Jesus may have prayed that the Father remove the "cup" of suffering from Him if it be God's will, but it was for this hour that He came. (cf. John 12:27) This was the climax, and the salvation of the world was at stake. There was (and there shall be) no greater crucible of testing and affliction than "the hour". The physical pain was enough, but the sins of the world? Mankind cannot possibly understand the extent of this spiritual hardship and devastation.

When Jesus told His followers that the Son of Man had no place to lay His head, and that they should let the dead bury themselves, and that you're not fit for the kingdom of God if you put your hand to the till and look back, He was stating that we must enter into His afflictions with Him, and that once you jump on His train it's not going to stop and it's not going to turn around. I'm on a trajectory to Paradise that is going to stop at nothing to ensure I reach my destination. The magnetic pull is more than I could ever resist.

Now that I'm on that course, I cannot look back. I cannot fret any longer about my past sins. I cannot allow the guilt of them to interfere with the innocence I have in Christ. But most importantly for me, I cannot look back at what I might of had without Him. Sounds crazy to think this way, but there are things one lays down to be a servant of the King. I'm embarrassed before Him that I have laid down little. My life has been one of ease, no doubt by the grace of God. I'm finding joy in giving up more, and what smalls things I have relinquished for Christ are ones I cannot turn around and wish I had back. To do so puts me in an unfit stead for the kingdom. If I did look back, I've been forgiven. But the point is that I cannot have my feet in both worlds. I will love the one and hate the other, or hate the one and love the other. I cannot serve both God and mammon. (cf. Matthew 6:24) I cannot look back, for if I do my trajectory to Christ will be crooked, and the pathway will ironically be harder and longer.