Life- A Process of Ploughing

UV 1255/10,000 Life- a Process of Ploughing
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Luke 9 v 62
The work of God in our lives is a lot like ploughing. It is hard work. It is time consuming. It is a slow and gradual process. The farmer bears intense heat while ploughing the dry field in summer. It proceeds blow by blow. The lives and hearts of people are not touched or changed in one go but it is a kind of ploughing. Just as ploughing tears up the top soil and exposes the layer under it, the ploughing that happens in our lives tears up the superficial, the cosmetic and goes to the root of life’s issues. The spiritual version of ploughing opens up our top soul and exposes the “under-soul”: the hurts, the pain, the anguish, the longing, the need for healing, the need for reconciliation, the loneliness, the fear, the guilt, the burdens. Ploughing breaks up the rough clods of soil and makes it possible for the tender crops to cast down roots into the soil, for water to drain into and collect in the tiny pits created by the sharp end of the plough. Similarly, ploughing creates pathways for the seed of the Word of God to grow in our hearts and lives.

Once a farmer sets his hand to the plough, he does not leave it or the field till he has completed his work. His focus is on completing the ploughing of the entire field. He does not sit down and wonder whether his work is worth his while and whether he should be actually doing something more enjoyable and less demanding. He does not return to the comfort zone of his house to sleep a little or to take rest. Similarly, once we have committed our hearts and our lives to God, there is no turning back. There is only one way- keep going forward with increasing enthusiasm. A plough is a stable and heavy instrument like no other. It has a heavy top that weighs down on fork like endings that dig into the soil and breaks it up. Our character and lifestyle is the heavy top that lends us stability and the edges are our communications of the Word of God.

God can use people without much talent or resources or education but He cannot use people who are vacillating, flinching in their faith and focus. Jesus set His face like flint towards the cross to complete the mission the Heavenly Father had given Him. He expects His followers not to be able but to be stable. He will supply the plough or the right equipment and the skill set required for the tasks He assigns us in His many fields. Like Elisha burned his ploughs before following Elijah the prophet, we will need to get rid of the kind of ploughs we were used to. He will tell us what crop to sow and in what season. He is the master of the harvest. He knows which way the wind blows and where it comes from. He does not want us to be like the wave in the sea that is tossed about by the wind, now heading in one direction and now in another. Determination, discipline, focus and faith till the finish are the marks of a true disciple. He will not be deterred by temporary hurdles but will plough on through it all. He will not be distracted by the seductions of pleasure or leisure. He will think and pray globally and plough locally. When we share our thoughts, our words and our lives, we might not sometimes see the results but we should know that it is part of the process of ploughing.
Prateep V Philip