Let Go of the Past

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

I just finished reading a book by Michael A. Singer called "The Untethered Soul."  It has helped me see scripture from a different perspective which has brought it more into our contemporary life.  In Luke 9:62 Jesus is speaking to those who would follow him. He wanted them to know it was going to cost them something--they were not to even go back to say goodbye to their family.

In his book Mr. Singer shows us that we are not our thoughts and feelings.  They come from the mind and the fact that we can "hear" those thoughts in our head shows us that we are separate from them.  Our brains receive information through our senses and experiences and is processed into thoughts based on the judgments we make.

As we begin life here on earth we build coping mechanisms to deal with the fear that arises from living in a fallen world.  Eventually we build boundaries for ourselves to protect not only our physical selves, but our feelings.  Each time we do this we close our heart a little more to protect ourselves from being hurt again.  Mr. Singer tells us this is how we build our psyche, but that is not who we really are--not who God created.  Our psyche is not our soul.  Our psyche is identified, instead, with our ego.

He says if something disturbs our feeling of safety and we hold onto the disturbance and store it away rather than letting it pass through us, it will come up again in the future to add to the new disturbance that triggers it.  Have you ever felt like you were more upset by something than you felt you should be?  That is because you are also feeling the old disturbance along with the new one.  

So when Jesus said anyone who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God what he is saying is this.  The past is done and over with.  You must release it so you are free to live the life of Christ now in you.  It may mean you need to forgive someone or yourself so that you are able to receive the Kingdom of God.  

There needs to be a clear demarcation between the old life and the new life.  This is why Jesus died for us so that God could forgive us and we would no longer be guilty.  He came to give us a clear conscience.  Guilt keeps us from God's kingdom because it keeps the focus on our earthy selves--our egos--and we know that God asks us to humble ourselves so that we may receive His grace.  In order to be in Christ and He in us, we need to be purified vessels no longer holding onto old coping mechanisms, or any human effort as far as that goes.  

We really must "forget about ourselves" and our past life in order to live the new life that God offers us in Christ.  Leave the old man, the past, behind and plow the field that lies in front of you.  And look what it gets us!  We get to live in the Kingdom of God as a child of God where we have everything we need!


Father, Your love knows no bounds so I must not build boundaries that keep me from sharing that love with others.  Thank you for showing me how to open my heart so that I will be available to do Your will.

Link to Scripture:  James 4:6

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