No Turning Back

Araro

by Toti Salgado
(used with permission)

No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
- Luke 9:62




But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
- Matthew 24:13

...Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...
- Hebrews 12:1




I would like to become unfamiliar with everything in order to see again.
-G.C. Lichtenberg

The Scripture passage found in Luke 9:62 which I quoted above was impressed in my heart one morning about three weeks ago while I was praying for my son Worshiper and his wife Chosen One.

A few blog entries ago, I shared about the difficult time that our family went through when Elijah was born.

God seemed to be saying that we, particularly Worshiper and Chosen One, were going through a time of testing, that the quality of our faith may be purified and strengthened.

Nobody likes tests at the moment that it is happening, but the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews says it so beautifully:

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful;
nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to those who have been trained by it.
- Hebrews 12:11

There is a goal, a fruit... which the writer calls the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

But it is attained only after a season of painful training.

These past weeks, I have continued to meditate on what it means to put my hand to the plow, and to not look back.

The authentic Christian life is not like a sport that I watch on television, or even from the seats in a stadium.

I am not a mere spectator, I am a key player.

And at the age when I am nearing the end of the race, I am truly thankful for my own lessons in perseverance...but the race is far from over.

Above is a beautiful photograph of a Filipino farmer plowing his field. It is entitled Araro, a local word that means "to plow."

I fell in love with the picture - mostly for what it stands for. But also because I am a Filipino, and the photo depicts a familiar scene that dots our rural landscape during the planting season.

I have a fierce admiration for the Filipino farmer because to me, he is a symbol of industry, hard work, and perseverance.

We are a people that have gone through so much testing as a nation... and endurance is almost a national character trait.

Howbeit, it does not apply to all... it is only true for those who choose to go all the way.


And this is what I have been praying for - for all my children. That they will not give up in the fight. That they will persevere.

No chastening seems joyful for the moment...but painful.

And in the final analysis, I believe there are only two categories of people:

those who will hold on in faith, or those who will shrink back in unbelief...

those who will run the race to finish, or those who will turn back midstream and not continue...

those who are willing to learn all there is to learn, or those who will give up when the going gets rough...

those who go through life with open hands, or those who end up disappointed and embittered...

those who have eternity as their goal, or those who are living only for short-lived, momentary pleasures...



I want to be counted as one of those who have endured to the end.

As I think of this race that I am in, what comes to mind is a sermon that I heard our founding pastor, Jerry Osbron, often teach about... it is a relay race, the kind where the runners in the team run the entire course one at a time. The others who have gone ahead are waiting at the finish line and cheering on those who are still in the race, running.

Encouragement is needed that we may not waver in our resolve to keep running... to not grow weary in the fight... to endure.

My friend Miriam and I watched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader last night. I read the Narnia Chronicles in the early 1970's when I was still a baby Christian. I never thought I'd ever see these C.S. Lewis and J.R. Tolkien classics turned into a movie... but thirty years later, here I was in a 3-D movie theater watching the familiar story unfold before my eyes in three-dimensional, high-resolution, high-definition, living color!

At the end of the movie, Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Reepicheep are standing with Aslan on the shore of a great sea. On the other side of this sea lies Aslan's country.

For those who embark on the journey to Aslan's country, "there is no turning back."

My eyes welled up with tears as I was sitting there, listening to these words.

There is no turning back.

Repicheep, that great warrior mouse, lets go of his rapier, and sets sail on his little coracle...toward Aslan's home.

He knows there is no turning back.

My desire is to always look at everything from a new perspective, so that I am not tempted to live my Christian life from a position of familiarity and comfort, where I please myself, and everything is about me and my agenda...

I want to keep pressing onward, ever willing to try out things I've never done, or seen, or experienced before.

What a challenge it is for us, if we are to really live as authentic Christians, to allow God to reveal Himself to us at another level... to step out of the box, and discover yet another facet of God that He's been longing for us to see.

Here are a few lines from The Fellowship of the Unashamed.

It is not clear who really penned these lines, but they have always served as an inspiration to me. I know...it is a high calling, easier said than done. But it always helps me to have a goal to live up to.

I share them here, believing that this is part of our battle-cry for the end-time battle that we will be called to be a part of.

The last battle is not for the weak-willed and the double minded.

It is for those who are determined to endure to the end.

I am part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed.
The die has been cast.
I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed,
my present makes sense,
and my future is secure.

I am finished and done with low living,
sight walking, small planning, smooth knees,
colorless dreams, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,
promotions, plaudits, or popularity....

My pace is set, my gait is fast,
my goal is Heaven,
my road is narrow,
my way is rough, my companions few,
my Guide reliable, my mission clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred,
lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice,
hesitate in the presence of adversity,
negotiate at the table of the enemy,
pander at the pool of popularity,
or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ....