One Word
This winter on The Daily Pattern we’re in a series called One Word. Each day we take one word – a feeling or circumstance – and bring a word from God to it. Let the Word of God speak to your life.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) O Lord, I am lowly and humble. You alone are my inheritance. Amen.
Word: Luke 9:62
“Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven.’”
Meditation
Commitment by Jeff Cloeter
You emailed, but got no response.
She said she would be there but never showed up.
He RSVP’d to your party but got a better offer in the meantime.
They said, “If you need anything…” But when you took them up on the offer, “anything” really meant nothing.
In an age of non-commitment, the demands of Jesus are harsh. He recounts a time when a series of people all said, “Yeah, I’ll follow you.” But one by one they flaked out. Other obligations arise, conditions on their commitment to follow him. At the end, Jesus says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven” (Luke 9:62).
Plowing requires a decisive course. You set your eye on a point ahead and you walk in a straight line. If you look back, or if you start and stop, your field is off. Your rows get messed up. So with Jesus, commitment means decisive action. Laser focus. Eyes on him. No looking back. No regrets. No hesitation.
This is a demanding imperative. Is Jesus really serious? No doubt. He’s not worth following unless he’s serious. He demands your first and best. No excuses. Your Lord and Savior deserves nothing less.
Can we really do it? What if I veer off the straight line? His level of commitment dwarfs our own. He is committed to sinners who repent and the lost who wander away. Just before this text it says he “set his face toward Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51,53). His mission was a straight line to the cross. No looking back. No regrets. No hesitation. This is the Lord who says, “Follow me.” So put your hand to the plow and go.
Lord Jesus, I know you are committed to me. Strengthen my weak knees. Straighten my wandering feet. Craft my heart as one with integrity and perseverance. Grant me single-minded obedience, my eyes fixed on you. Amen.
Prayer for Family
· For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
· For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
· For close friends that are as family to me.
· For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
· For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
· For provision where there is need in my family.
· For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
· For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
O Lord and King, your Kingdom comes even without our prayer. But we pray that it would also come among us. We are desperate for your reign and rule, for all we see is rebellion. Come into my heart, my home, my family, my work, my church, my community. Rule with justice and with mercy. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.