Keep Your Hands On The Plow

While I attended Harding Univ. many (many) years ago, I was part of a singing group that traveled around the US and overseas, singing and working with local churches.

Some of the songs in our repertoire were spiritual songs. I didn’t know much about spirituals but I instantly fell in love with the intensity of the words and the emotion of the melodies. They are still some of my favorite music to listen to.

One song was called “Hold On”. It mentions keeping your hand on the plow and holding on. (You can listen to this song and many others on YouTube).

This particular song is a reference to Luke 9:62 which says:

“Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

The meaning of this verse is simply, once you put your hand on to the plow (following Jesus), you have started to “plow” the fields (work in His kingdom), you should hold on and not look back.

If you’ve ever seen someone plow a field, you know they have to keep their eyes fixed straight ahead, otherwise their rows will be crooked. I learned this quickly as a teenager growing up on a farm. I spent many hours in a tractor seat helping my dad plowing and preparing fields.
The same goes for the kingdom of God. Once we put our hands on His plow, we have to keep a firm grip on it and keep our eyes facing ahead. If you look back (having unbelief and doubt, yearning for worldly ways), then he tells us we are not fit for the kingdom.

I know my rows haven’t always been straight and maybe yours haven’t either, but we have to keep working the spiritual field God has placed us in, so we can reap the harvest later.

Keep your hand on the gospel plow- hold on and don’t let go.

Be kind.❤