day 851: Farmer Lessons

"Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God"

It was September 22, 1985, in Champaign, Illinois when the first benefit concert called Farm Aid happened. Being raised in Indiana and a Purdue graduate, I remember it well as our own state son, John Cougar Mellencamp was one of the founders of the movement. In 1985 the American Farmer was in real trouble with farms being foreclosed at a staggering rate and little profit to be made. Purdue being such a strong agriculture school gave me friends who came from family farms and returned home to them after graduation. Farming was, and is, hard work. Plants and animals don't know days off like weekends, Sundays or holidays. Every day is a farming day and there is much to be learned. The resilience of a Farmer can best be seen in the lesson that a farmer can never look behind them as they till or plow a line for once they do the line in front of them will never be straight again. It's a metaphor that being from a farming state you learn young and it sticks with you. Fortunately, nearly 30 years later the American Farmer is thriving. Globalization has caught up with farming and there is now an export market for our home-raised food that has the price of land rising exponentially and farmers once again being lifted up on the pedestal of economic standards that they once had and again deserve. The perseverance of the American Farmer; a lesson to be learned by all.

Jesus was a man of, and an observer of the people. He knew the hard work of the farmer and He taught many of His parables out of the lessons and knowledge of the land and farming. Jesus told the want-to-be follower that if this person looked back once he put his hand on the plow then the man would not be fit for the Kingdom of God. To truly believe there is no looking back to evaluate or try and draw a line from our past to our future. God tells us to give up what is behind us and only fix our eyes on His path in front of us. That is the field that is ours to plow, maintain and someday harvest. The lesson of the farmer challenges us today to ask ourselves how much time are we spending looking over our shoulder, or are do we have our eyes fixed and forward as He tells us to do?

Reference: Luke 9:62 (New Living Testament)