Where we cast our eyes is generally where our bodies tend to follow. So Jesus tells his disciples that looking back makes as much sense as a farmer plowing a field, who instead of looking forward keeps turning around to see where he’s been (Lk. 9:62). A straight line will never be plowed if the farmer keeps looking behind him/her. So we keep our eyes looking forward.
When Lot fled Sodom and Gomorrah, the angels told him not to look back, instead run to the hills. But too much was going on behind them as a sulfur fire hailed down on the twin cities. Their past was calling to them louder than their future was. Lot’s wife couldn’t fight the temptation. She slowed her pace and turned her head so that her eyes and heart was now in sync. Immediately she was turned into a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:26).
When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea it was supposed to be their own burning of the bridges back to Egypt. And for a while it was. But wilderness wanderings was difficult. Hot in the sun with the heat escaping at sunset to significantly cooler temperatures, especially in the winter, conditions were far from ideal, even for nomads. With the wind blowing, sand of plenty and water’s scarcity, it’s not farfetched to believe that Egypt then was viewed better than the Promised Land there. For their short-sighted rebellion, God gave the next generation the Promised Land (Num. 12).
A magnetic force pulls us to keep looking back. An addict longing to be clean keeps going back into the pills, the porn, or the booze. A small child at camp painfully begs for her parents to come get her, even though they try to convince her to stay. A Christian seeking grace cannot get untangled from the legalistic doctrine ingrained in their minds. The abusive wounds of the past keep haunting us as we relive those moments in our minds, instead of allowing for healing to take place. We make a clean break from our past only for our past to keep enticing us, luring us, guilting us to come back to them, while God continues calling us to a better promise.
Because we’re so inclined to turn back and look, Paul reminds the Philippians to keep pressing forward. Our future is before us, not behind us (Phil. 3:12-14). So important is it to move forward that he tells them (i.e., us) twice to press on. Part of moving forward is to forget the past – not to ignore it, but never allowing it to control us. We accept a memory wipe. Neither the bad we’ve done or experienced nor the good we’ve embraced define us. Because we’ve failed doesn’t mean we quit, and when we’ve succeeded, it doesn’t mean we’ve arrived. We just keep pressing forward.
On the Columbia River Gorge, about thirty miles east of Portland, is Multnomah Falls. With a reach of 600 some feet, it’s the tallest waterfall in the continental United States (I’ve often imagined what Lewis & Clark thought when they first laid eyes on her as they rafted down the Columbia River). A path has been carved and paved from the bottom of the falls to the top of the falls. The two plus mile hike weaves back and forth and takes the hiker about forty-five minutes to complete the course. The view is beyond spectacular.
When Cile and I visited my family in 2002 we went to The Falls but never attempted the climb. Jonathan and Matthew would not have made it. Nine years later, we found ourselves in Portland with the goal of making the trip to the top. But even with Matthew being twelve years of age, the climb was still steep and hard. Scattered along the path were benches to rest and catch a view of God’s handiwork along the Gorge. We took full advantage of those benches. We were often tired and easily worn out, if not discouraged. But we pressed on and refused to turn back. We came not to quit half way up the path, but to reach the summit of The Falls. And once there, every single step was worth it.
So Jesus calls us to keep moving our faith forward. For “though the hills are steep and the valley is deep, and we may be weary with the outlook dreary, the up-look always points to victory.” We press on because what God has for us lays in the future not in the past. We press on because Jesus is leading us. We press on without a U-Turn as the song says, “No turning back. No turning back.”
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)