“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” - Mother Teresa October, 2006 This
summer, our
family
attended a production of my favorite musical,
“Seven Brides for Seven
Brothers.” Among other things, the musical
contains one of my favorite
lines of all time: One of the “brides,” Ruth
Jebson, says to one of the
middle brothers, Caleb Pontipee, “If you’ll just
follow me.” A starry
eyed Caleb replies “To the ends of the Earth!”
The poor man is clearly
smitten. I confess I always wanted to feel that
way about someone. Then
I met my wife, Charlotte. I’m happy to report
that we celebrated our
21st wedding anniversary in September. And I’m
still following her.
Some of Jesus’ disciples, like James and John, were willing to follow him “to the ends of the Earth!” They were the ones who Jesus told one would-be follower, “‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’” (Luke 9:58 NIV). Another potential disciple said to him, “‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’” (Luke 9:59b NIV). Again, Jesus gave a no-nonsense reply: “‘Let the dead bury their own After one would-be follower had gone on his way, Peter said, “‘We have left all we had to follow you!’” (Luke 18:28 NIV). Personally, I suspect Peter really wanted to know, “What about me?” It’s a natural reaction. He had just seen a man turn away from the path he himself was on, unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice. He wanted reassurance that his own sacrifice would prove to be worthwhile. And Jesus told him—and by extension you and me— Later, Jesus told the twelve disciples, “‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.’” (Luke 18:31b-32 NIV). He knew how his life on Earth would end and he wanted his disciples to be prepared to face the same. As the time of his death approached, Jesus said to the people, “‘Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.’” (John 12:26a NIV). Jesus’ words apply to us today. The call “Follow me,” echoes down through the ages. The author of Hebrews wrote, “I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; No turning back, no turning back.” ”I have decided to follow Jesus” – Anonymous Copyright
© 2006 by David Phelps
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