December 4th, 2025 Devotional

LIVING WATER VINEYARD DEVOTION

Thursday, December 4, 2025

“WHEN ‘WHATEVER’ HOLDS US BACK”

Luke 9 gives us a powerful picture of Jesus walking along the road, speaking with three different people who say they want to follow Him.

We’ve already looked at:

• The enthusiastic man — “Wherever!”

• The delayed man — “Whenever!”

Today we come to the third man — the “Whatever” follower.

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THE THIRD MAN — ‘LET ME SAY GOODBYE’ (Luke 9:61–62)

As Jesus walks, another man steps forward and says:

“I will follow You, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

It sounds reasonable. Respectful. Even honorable.

But Jesus responds:

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

Why such a sharp answer?

Because in that culture, “saying goodbye” wasn’t a brief wave from the porch.

It involved multiple days of ceremonies, meals, discussions, and emotional gatherings.

This man wasn’t simply asking to say farewell —

he was asking for permission to stay tied to the past.

He wanted Jesus + his old life.

He wanted to follow, but not completely surrender.

Jesus knows:

You cannot plow a straight line while constantly turning around.

You cannot walk into the future while your heart is still living in the past.

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THE THINGS WE HOLD BACK

We all have our “whatever.”

For some, it’s comfort.

For others, it’s timing.

But for many, it’s that one area of life we feel entitled to keep.

Approval.

Money.

Security.

Reputation.

The familiar.

An old identity.

A relationship.

A habit.

The medieval Templar Knights symbolized this vividly.

During baptism, some would hold their sword above the water — signaling:

“Lord, everything is Yours… except this.”

We all have “swords” we hold back.

But Jesus calls us to a wholehearted “yes.”

And Scripture gives us a beautiful contrast.

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ELISHA — NO TURNING BACK (1 Kings 19:19–21)

When Elijah called Elisha, Elisha didn’t keep his options open.

He burned the plow.

He slaughtered the oxen.

He fed the village with the sacrifice.

He left nothing to return to.

He made sure that following God meant no looking back.

That’s what Jesus was calling for in Luke 9 —

not half-surrender, not polite obedience, not “Jesus + something else.”

And church history gives us another vivid example.

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FRANCIS OF ASSISI — FROM FAN TO RADICAL FOLLOWER

Many people admire Jesus.

They respect Him.

They want to be near Him — when it’s convenient.

That’s what a fan does.

But Francis of Assisi shows what it looks like when a person shifts from admiration to total allegiance — from “I like Jesus” to “Jesus has my life.”

Francis grew up in wealth and privilege.

His father was a successful cloth merchant, and Francis wore the finest garments.

He was the life of the party — charming, popular, ambitious, and destined for success.

But God was quietly working beneath the surface.

THE ENCOUNTER — THE LEPER ON THE ROAD

One day, Francis approached a leper — a man he would normally avoid in fear and disgust.

But something supernatural stirred within him.

Instead of riding past, Francis got off his horse, embraced the leper, and kissed his face.

As he walked back to his horse, the leper had vanished.

Gone.

Francis realized:

It was Christ Himself he had embraced.

That encounter shattered his pride and awakened his soul.

He moved from admiring Jesus… to actually following Him.

THE FINAL GOODBYE TO HIS OLD LIFE

Shortly afterward, inside his father’s bustling clothing shop — surrounded by wealth, fabric, and status — Francis knew he couldn’t stay.

In a dramatic moment witnessed by the entire town, Francis took off the luxurious garments his father had given him and declared:

“From now on I will no longer say ‘my father Pietro,’

but ‘Our Father who is in heaven.’”

He handed everything back — the money, the inheritance, the identity — and walked away wearing only a rough cloak.

He burned his plow.

He didn’t keep a safety plan.

He didn’t hold on to “just one thing.”

Francis walked away from comfort, reputation, and security —

and into radical obedience and joy.

And God used him to ignite a movement of compassion, simplicity, and missionary zeal that shaped the course of Christian history.

Where the man in Luke 9 said,

“I will follow… but first—”

Francis said,

“I follow — fully, now.”

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THE CALL FOR US TODAY

Jesus still says:

“Follow Me — without looking back.”

We cannot move forward into the calling of God

while clinging to the comforts, habits, or identities of the past.

The third man wanted to keep Jesus close…

but keep his attachments closer.

Elisha burned the plow.

Francis dropped the garments.

And Jesus calls us to the same surrender.

So the question becomes:

What is the ‘whatever’ I’ve been holding back?

What plow needs to burn?

What garment needs to be laid down?

What goodbye is Jesus asking me to say?

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REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. What part of my old life am I still holding onto while trying to follow Jesus?

2. What is Jesus calling me to lay down, release, or “burn” so I can move forward?

3. Where am I looking back when Jesus is calling me to look forward?

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CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus,

I don’t want to follow You halfway.

Show me the “whatever” I’ve been holding back.

Give me courage to release the past and let go of anything that slows me down.

Help me put my hand to the plow without turning back.

Make me like Elisha and like Francis —

fully surrendered, joyfully obedient, and completely Yours.

Lead me forward, Lord.

My answer is yes.

Amen.