Don’t Look Back

Prayer ~ Lord, sometimes I just want to have things go on like they were before we had changes imposed on us. Please give me the grace to accept things the way they are…and to not look back. Give me strength to change my attitude and things I can change for the better—to live in a way that will honor You. Fill me with Your wisdom that I would be able to see things the way You see them…and draw others into a relationship with You.

Don't long for "the good old days." This is not wise. Ecclesiastes 7:10

 

Meditate. Focus. Don't think about the past but consider what the future holds.

 

How often do you hear someone now say that they wished things were “back to normal”…like “the good old days?” Time marches on…and waits for no one. Consider Lot and his family when they were living in Sodom and God planned to destroy that wicked city, but Lot was allowed to leave. Some angels came to warn him, and they literally ended up dragging him and his family out of Sodom. They told the family…don’t look back, but Lot’s wife didn’t listen.

When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, "Run for your lives! And don't look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!" But Lot's wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:17; 26

Jesus warned a follower, and us, that we can’t go back to say goodbye to family or to bury dead relatives if we are going to totally follow Him.

But Jesus told him, "Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God." Luke 9:62

That scripture is one of my favorites…and my grandchildren know my story so well they can tell it. I got to drive a tractor when I was eight or nine and although my Dad told me to keep my eyes on the post at the end of the row ahead and not look back, I looked back to see my nice straight rows. As I looked back, I turned the tractor and ruined my nice straight rows. Needless to say, I had to dig those rows out by hand with a shovel. Hard work. I didn’t get to drive the tractor again. Don’t look back is a personal motto.

But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don't repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. Revelation 2:4-5

In Revelation, Jesus wants us to turn back to Him—to repent. There is a difference between looking back and turning back. In the case of turning back, we are turning 180 degrees, returning spiritually to Jesus Christ, to follow Him and live in His way. In looking back, people are just wanting to have things their way…the old way…or to see how they are doing in life. Like looking for straight rows behind the tractor in the field—not looking ahead to the goal. Are you tempted to look back? We need to press on…

I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:12-14

That heavenly prize…eternal life in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is the best reason to press on and not look back. It is not wise to look back. Focus on the future…day by day. Don’t look back.

 

Verse of Salvation ~ So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 1 Peter 1:13

 

Memory Verse of the Week ~ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9

© 2022 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

Books by Mickey M. Hunacek

Parenting Day By Day - Daily Devotional for Building Character

 

Coins of the Bible: New Testament Stories

 

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