Some of life’s greatest lessons aren’t learned in a classroom.
They’re learned behind a plow.
When I was a boy, my cousins, siblings, and I would argue over who got to pull Grandpa’s plow through the garden. Looking back, I smile at those memories. At the time, all we knew was that we wanted to help.
Years later, when I began making the furrows myself, Grandpa’s lesson finally made sense.
If I wanted a straight row, I couldn’t keep looking at the plow.
I couldn’t keep looking behind me to see how I was doing.
I had to pick something in the distance—a tree, a fence post, anything that wouldn’t move—and keep my eyes fixed on it.
The moment my attention drifted, so did the furrow.
Oddly enough, I discovered the same thing mowing lawns.
The straightest lines didn’t come from staring at the mower deck. They came from focusing on something far ahead.
Later, football taught me the lesson again.
A quarterback doesn’t stare at where the receiver is. He throws toward where the receiver is going to be.
Three very different experiences.
One unchanging principle.
You don’t move accurately by staring at what’s immediately in front of you.
You move accurately by fixing your attention on where you’re headed.
Then one day I realized…
Jesus had already taught that lesson.
“No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
— Luke 9:62 (NKJV)
Jesus wasn’t giving farming advice.
He was describing discipleship.
The New Testament repeats this same pattern.
Paul wrote,
”…forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead…”
— Philippians 3:13 (NKJV)
The writer of Hebrews adds,
”…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”
— Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV)
Notice the consistency.
Not looking at yesterday.
Not looking at ourselves.
Not looking at the obstacles.
Looking at Christ.
Reflection has its place. Looking back reminds us of God’s faithfulness and how far He has brought us.
But we were never meant to live looking over our shoulder.
Reflection celebrates progress.
Fixation prevents it.
The One who called us forward never intended for us to follow Him while facing yesterday.
Keep your eyes on Christ.
The furrow will follow.
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