Leave it behind
“Do not return to what was left behind.”
There’s a lot to unpack in today’s Gospel, but this is the critical part.
Because it’s the linchpin for everything else. All of Jesus’ warnings in the reading, to be alert, to be prepared. All of them hinge on this - “Do not return to what was left behind.”
Here’s what I mean. God calls each of us into a deeper relationship with Him. God calls each of us to be who He made us to be.
That’s what it takes to be ready for everything that Jesus is warning us about. It’s not something we can do on our own. It’s something we can only do with God and with God’s help.
To do that, we need to answer God’s call to a deeper relationship with Him. To do that, we need to answer God’s call to be who He made us to be.
For most of us, if we’re actually going to do that, then we have to be honest with ourselves. Not everything and everyone in our lives is going to help us answer God’s call.
Maybe it’s a bad influence. Maybe it’s an unhealthy relationship. Maybe it’s a counter-productive habit. Maybe it’s an addiction.
Whatever it is, if we’re going to answer God’s call to become who He made us to be, if it’s getting in the way? If it’s holding us back? Then you and I have to leave it behind.
This is one of the hardest things to do. Especially when what we have to leave behind is part of our normal.
It’s the reason why the rich young man went away sad when Jesus told him that his wealth was holding him back and that he needed to leave it behind (Luke 18:18-23). Not because wealth is evil, but because the wealth that was holding him back was a big part of his normal.
It’s a dynamic that plays out for you and me, even with things that are obvious in the harm they are doing to us. Like addictions and unhealthy relationships.
Once they’re part of our normal, they are hard to leave behind. Even if they’re bad for us.
That’s why Jesus’ advice – “Do not return to what was left behind” – rings true for anyone who’s in recovery or who’s ever been in a 12-step program.
Once you make a break with something or someone that’s holding you back, don’t return to it. Better yet, don’t even put yourself in a place (physically, emotionally, etc.) where returning to it is an option.
But whatever you do, don’t try to follow Jesus’ advice on your own.
Because you and I won’t make it. Not on our own.
When something we need to leave behind becomes part of our normal, the only way we can actually leave it behind? Is with the One who loves us enough to warn us of the danger of returning to it.
The only way to do that? Make each urge to return to it not a moment to beat ourselves up for being human, but a call to prayer. Even if that prayer is just, “God, here I go again.” Or “God, I feel stuck.”
That’s the only way I know to handle leaving behind the parts of my normal that are holding me back. That are keeping me from answering God’s call to be who He made me to be.
Because I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t do this on my own. But God’s never refused me help.
Today’s Readings
