Crooked Rows

Luke 9: 57-62 “But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62

“If you were plowing, why couldn’t you turn your head to see where you had been or wanted to go?”

“Crooked rows,” “you’d get crooked rows when you looked back.”

A row was that wasn’t straight wasn’t right. In Christ’s meaning, the issue was priority. Jesus was letting us know that the Kingdom will not be built according to our priorities but His. The follower who presumed four-star accommodations along the way or the one with a funeral to attend are unfit for the Kingdom’s work.

Jesus didn’t want “crooked rows” in His Kingdom. He wanted his plowers to plow for all they were worth…not to be distracted by “what might have been” had they stayed home. Following Him meant obedience and dedication, saying a firm “no” to competing interests.

How often do we look back from the plow? I think that is why there are so many miserable Christians who feel they missed something (a verse or prayer) that would cure their pain or feel that God has led them on a wild goose chase after the abundant life He promised but is always just out of reach.

“Crooked rows” prevail in the landscape of my life…but Abba is more interested in my learning how to keep my eye on the prize than re-doing the past.

In my "crookedness," unfit for God's service, i felt i am a bruised reed, a dimly burning wick . . .

Bruised Reed & Dimly Burning Wick (Isaiah 42: 1-4)

A bruised reed he will not break,
A dimly burning wick He will not extinguish. (v3)

In the ancient world reeds were used to make mats and even boats. In marshy places they were plentiful. You could be very selective. If you found a reed that was bruised, one that you could not use, you could leave it and move on. There was a plentiful supply of healthy reeds to choose from. You would gather only the healthy ones, go back home, weave your mat, or make your boat.

God, however, won’t shove the bruised reeds aside. He is actually searching for the broken ones!

You may have seen a picture of a lamp from the ancient world. It was a shallow bowl-like container, filled with oil, in which a wick burned. When the wick burned down to a smoldering stub, you threw it away. It was no good anymore.

God, however, won’t throw it away. He will not extinguish a dimly burning wick. The wick is something to be saved and restored.

This is strange. A person who collects bruised reeds and burnt wicks. What does the servant plan to do with them?

Matthew walked with Jesus. This Jesus, Matthew tells us, was a collector . . . a collector of bruised reeds and burnt wicks (Matthew 12:20). Matthew tells us that Jesus, on a Sabbath day, defied the religious authorities that He might heal a man with a withered hand.

Jesus was the servant that God foretold through Isaiah. It was Jesus who would collect bruised reeds, and restore them. It was Jesus who would collect burnt wicks, and set them aglow once again.