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

I came across this verse this morning as I was reading my Bible and it felt so significant. I recall a time about fifteen years ago when I was about to enter ministry and I was doubting if I wanted to take that step. In fact, I was doubting if I even wanted to continue to follow Jesus at all. I was doing some serious looking back at the life I had come out of a year or two earlier. During that time, a guy named George Stoltzfoos showed up at our church. He lived in Florida and just happened to be in town because his job as a truck driver brought him nearby and his brother, Gerry, was the pastor of our church.

I didn't know George and he didn't know me. But after the service that morning, he came over to me and said, "I don't know exactly what you're wrestling with, young man, but God wants me to tell you not to put your hand to the plow and then look back." I said thanks and he went on his way. But as I reflected on that through the day, it just turned me up-side-down. I decided to stay on the path of following Jesus and to ministry.

It was a couple years later, when I was in ministry school, that I came across this Scripture and realized that awesome word George had given me actually came from the Bible! Just like that Scripture inspired me fifteen years ago, it inspires me today as I pour my heart and soul into establishing a new life-giving church in Tulsa. We are well on our way and I am not about to look back. Thank you, Lord, for your life-giving Word.