Look Ahead

Now it is fitting as we look at the start of the new year 2024, to take a moment to understand what keeps us from having what is ahead for us.

In Luke 9:62, Jesus says, “No one, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”  He was speaking to a man who wanted to bury his father before he set out to follow Jesus.  Jesus’ response seems harsh, but is it?

Back then, an ox or some other animal was used to pull a plow through a field.  The ox only responded to what man trained it to do.  It walked where it was trained to walk.  The ox walked at the pace it was driven to walk and turned when it was trained to turn.  Everything the ox did was done because someone behind it held the plow and looked ahead.

As we close out 2023 and we look forward to a prosperous 2024, let’s start by understanding that we need to look ahead more than we look back.  Some of us live sloppy lives because we believe we need to look back at what went wrong so we learn what not to do again.

By sloppy I mean the rows we plough are not straight.  The depths we walk are not consistent.  The places we go are not the best.  The things we produce are not high quality.  All because we spend most of our time walking forward but looking backward.

Now, don’t be alarmed at what I said.  For sure, we need to learn from our mistakes.  We don’t want to live a life of repeating the same mistakes over and again.  If you fail an exam because you did not study, you learn that it is a mistake not to study.

Tomorrow, 2023 will be in our past.  It can do nothing for us but exist as a memory of some of the things we experienced yesterday.  What is ahead of us is 2024.  God wants us to focus on what is ahead more than to dwell on what has passed.

Still, someone is saying, “Yes Allen, but scripture tells us to fix things we did wrong before we move to things ahead.”  For sure we must apologize and reconcile ourselves with others where that is right.  But you cannot fix a wrong done yesterday.  We do not have the ability to undo what has been done.  It is only by looking ahead that we can learn to do what will keep us from doing the wrong we did yesterday.

So, for 2024, let’s start the year by learning to walk forward looking ahead.  The great plans God has for you are ahead of you not behind you.  He is with you.  He has hold of the plow of your life.  He knows where you need to walk and where you need to go.

We are not oxen.  We are not just wondering about in the fields of our lives ploughing where we are living today.  God gives us the ability to look ahead, not just to see where are going.  We look ahead because we can decide on what we want our tomorrow to be.

If yesterday you were wronged, look ahead and let it go.  You will have a better tomorrow.

If yesterday you did wrong to anyone or with anything, look ahead and do what is right.  You will have a better tomorrow and so will others.

If yesterday you didn’t have all you needed, look ahead and let it go.  You will see where you can walk to have more tomorrow.

If you learn to live by looking back at what has happened to you, you will find it difficult to have all that can be yours tomorrow.  When we look back, we find it difficult to let go of what we cannot take into our tomorrows.

We don’t have to forget yesterday, but let’s not try to relive yesterday.  2024 is the tomorrow of 2023.  Let’s learn to look forward to each of our tomorrows and live in a way that we can have more of what is ahead.

I pray that 2024 is full of the blessings of God for you and your life.  Look ahead to that with the great assurance of God’s faithfulness to want the best for us.

Live a Delivered Life.  Love you.