Dee Bowman
There was a kid in our neighborhood who was
a bully. He ordered the other kids around and generally did whatever he wanted
to. He was the big boss boy.
Once in a while he would ride up on
his bicycle and round up all the kids in the area for a game of follow the
leader. You didn’t dare not play, because he’d get you if you didn’t. So, we’d
get on our bikes, line up, and take off behind our leader.
He was a harsh taskmaster, our leader
was. Sometimes he’d take us out behind
We lined up or we got in trouble.
Now, we don’t follow Christ for the same reason, but nonetheless with the same
dedication. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus remarked that “If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Following Christ is a willful
decision, one we make because we want to do so. We don’t have to–we want to.
The passage says, “if any man will come after me,” and that means that the path
to glory He recommends is open to all men everywhere. You don’t have to have
some kind of pedigree or educational diploma, or participate in some sort of
apprentice program to be eligible to follow our Leader. You don’t have to have
some other person’s approval to do it, either. All you have to do is have faith
in our Leader, line up to the right and follow Him.
But, I have to warn you: that’s not as
easy as it may sound. In order to follow Him, you have to deny yourself. That
means that you give Him complete control. It means that you can’t do it
half-way. You can’t follow Him and the world at the same time (see Colossians
3:1-3; I John 3:15-f). You decide by yourself where you’ll line up. Just as we
no longer acknowledged our will and submitted instead to the will of the bully,
just so–but for a bigger reason–we must submit completely to the will of our
Leader ( see I Peter 3:15).
But following His lead does not stop
at mere self-denial, you have to “take up your cross.” That means we must come
to bear up under whatever weight is involved in following our Leader. That
means we may have to suffer ridicule at times, endure taunting, be subjected to
various sorts of criticisms, and all because of our following a course which is
drastically different from the one the world around us is following.
Here are some things necessary to line
up right.
1. We must consider all that He says
as the final word on the matter. It is not enough for a thing to sound
religious, or feel holy, it must have the approval of Christ or else we are not
actually following Him (see Matthew 15:9).
2. We must learn that self denial
involves the development of an attitude of total submission. Far too many
people have developed a kind of “feel good” religion. If it feels right, then
it must be right, they deduce. They compare themselves with themselves and
judge themself by themselves. In doing so, they are not wise (see II
Corinthians 10:12).
3. Self denial does not mean there’s
nothing to do. Some people seem to have the notion that once they’ve turned
their life over to Christ they are absolved of any further responsibility.
That’s not true. To deny oneself is to make a mental choice to carry a cross.
And that means inconvenience, difficulty, even downright hardship, at times
(see Matthew 7:21).
4. Following Jesus means keeping your
eye on the goal. “Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,”
is necessary to the continuance of our heavenly journey. Jesus, “for the glory
that was set before Him,” endured the death of the cross (Hebrews 12:2). We
focus on the goal so that we can stay on course, travel toward it all the
while. We have to work hard to get home. When a person is pre-occupied with the
things of this life, he likely has little time to concentrate on the higher
course of pursuit. In fact, many have stopped here and have gotten so used to
this place they no longer have a desire to go home. How sad.
Line up to the right. Follow the
Leader. Don’t let anything get you off course. Do what He says, go where He
goes. You’ll never be sorry. (Via
Folsom Point)
~In Sunday Bulletin,
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