Stop looking back — look ahead!

Luke 9:62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Some time ago, I wrote a devotional about not worrying for tomorrow because tomorrow holds its own worries. But it occurred to me recently, that just about as often as we worry for tomorrow, we fret about yesterday. How many times do we find ourselves saying, “I wish things could be the way they were, I wish I was younger, I wish I could fit into those jeans again, I wish I didn’t make that terrible mistake … you fill in the blank”?

The Lord doesn’t want us constantly looking back at what once was. Our enemy does — he wants us to feel discouraged and helpless and ruminate over and over on what we can never change. Sure, if we need to repent or make something right, we ought to go ahead and do it. But God doesn’t want us drowning in self-pity or regret about past mistakes, or hopelessly longing for what can never be again . He wants us to look ahead. He wants us to say, “Forget what was — the future is where my destiny lies and I will meet the Lord there in His purposes for me.” That’s faith. And it’s well based in everything Yeshua (Jesus) has done for us, promised us, and called us to.

So, let’s stop looking back in fear or bondage to the past — it’s long gone already. Let’s move ahead and press toward the new things that the Lord has for us in our lives. Our God is always making things new, and redeeming what was before.