DON’T GO BACK

LUKE 9:62

LUKE 9:62 (ESV)

“Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’”

Following Jesus means moving forward, not continually returning to the very things God is trying to bring you out from. Yet one of the greatest struggles many believers face is the temptation to look back. Old habits, old mindsets, old relationships, old comforts, old lifestyles, and old ways of coping can begin pulling at a person when the journey with God becomes difficult, uncomfortable, or uncertain.

That is why LUKE 9:62 (ESV) says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus was not speaking about perfection. He was speaking about direction. A person cannot move forward properly while continually longing for the life God already called them out from.

The danger is that people often remember the past selectively. They remember temporary comfort while forgetting the bondage attached to it. They miss old feelings while forgetting the emptiness that came with them. The enemy constantly tries to make people romanticise the very things that once kept them spiritually trapped.

This is especially true during difficult seasons. When pressure increases, when growth feels slow, or when life becomes painful, the old life can begin looking familiar again. Some people return to old addictions because they want relief. Others return to toxic relationships because loneliness feels heavy. Some return to compromise because obedience feels costly. Yet going backward never produces the freedom God is leading people into.

The Israelites struggled with this repeatedly after God brought them out of Egypt. Even after experiencing deliverance, there were moments where they wanted to return because the wilderness felt difficult. Yet slavery always looks different when viewed through frustration instead of truth.

God did not rescue people to lead them back into bondage.

He leads people forward into freedom.

That does not mean the process is always easy. There are seasons where following Jesus requires letting go of what once felt familiar. Growth often feels uncomfortable because God is changing desires, priorities, habits, and identity from the inside out. But discomfort during transformation is very different from remaining trapped in the things Christ already came to free people from.

Many believers become discouraged because they still feel the pull toward old ways of living. Yet temptation itself is not failure. The question is whether a person keeps turning back toward the old life or continues bringing those struggles honestly before God while moving forward with Him.

Jesus never told people to follow Him halfway.

He calls people forward fully.

Forward in truth.

Forward in surrender.

Forward in freedom.

So stop looking backward toward the very things God is trying to heal you from. Stop glorifying seasons that once left you empty, exhausted, broken, or spiritually distant from Him. Keep your eyes fixed on Christ and continue moving forward even when the journey feels difficult, because the life God is leading you into is far greater than anything waiting behind you.