I remember the first time I drove a tractor. It was a hot Alabama summer and my dad was teaching me how to cut a field of grass. I’d been on tractors and four-wheelers since I can remember. But driving a tractor is very different than just riding on one.

“Watch where you are going.” If my dad said it once, he said it a million times. He was a stickler for having straight lines in his field. He wanted that field to look like Legion Field…never mind that Legion Field had artificial turf…and was never mowed.

“Watch where you are going.” He’d stand on one end of the field with his arms folded staring down the line making sure I kept my head up. He’d wave his arms if I ever got off line. He’d give me a thumbs up if I was on target.

“Watch where you are going.” Mowing in a straight line seemed like the most impossible task on my way to manhood. I could fire a rifle, kill small and not so small animals, start a fire, drive a boat, do long division in my head. But mowing in a straight line? How would I ever pass a driver’s license test?

“Watch where you are going.” Dad would stand on the end of the field. “Drive towards me!” The words kept coming. “Check behind you to make sure you’re lined up. Put the wheel on the edge of the cut grass that you just mowed and keep your eyes on me. Stay on target.” I resisted the urge to scream back at him “This is yellow team leader and they are coming in to fast!!!”

“Watch where you are going.” You’ll never cut straight if you are looking down or behind you. Must be able to see across the field to where you want to be at the end of that row.

It’s amazing how cutting grass can teach us about following Jesus.

It’s easy to get distracted cutting grass…and following Jesus. The straight line we thought we were traveling looks more like a roller coaster. And it’s not our heart or our passion that often gets off track. It’s where we are looking…our vision…we quit looking where we are going.

So over the next 3 weeks, I’m going to revisit our simple mantra at Western Hills of Love God, Live Connected, and Serve All. It’s our “Where are we going” marker that helps us mow in a straight line. And every now and then – it’s good to get the eyes checked.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.