Between the Mule's Ears
I don’t know a whole lot about mules. I have encountered a few jackasses in my life, but that’s an altogether different story. Anyway, after my message today at Embrace Church, one of my older members shared something with me that I’d like to pass on to you.
Wayne is in his eighties. He grew up in this area of North Carolina, where he has spent most of his life. As a young boy, his father taught him early on how to plow the fields. And, according to Wayne, the key to plowing a straight row is to pick a spot in the distance (a tree, big rock, whatever) and drive the mule pulling the plow toward that marker, all the while keeping that mark between the ears of the mule.
The reason Wayne shared that story with me was a Scripture I shared from the New Testament. Jesus says no one who puts his/her hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God. Wayne’s mule-ear advice which came from his father sheds a lot of light on what Jesus is saying. Imagine plowing a row that zig-zags left and right. I can only imagine what Wayne’s daddy would have done had his son plowed that kind of row.
When our Lord calls us to follow him, he means for us to keep our eye on the goal. He has a row in mind for each of us. It’s our row and no one else’s. But we must be diligent and focused in order to plow the row he is calling us to plow.
My row has led me to Texas, North Georgia, South Korea, and North Carolina. That may sound like a zig-zag row, but it’s not. And the evidence that I’m plowing the row God has called me to plow is the harvest reaped over the years.
How about your row? Are you plowing the row God has called you to plow? Are you experiencing the harvest God has planned for you?
In Christ,
Dan
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You can listen to my weekly messages at Embrace Church, High Point.