" . . . Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." Mark 1:17
There is a great difference between coming to Jesus and coming after Jesus. Jesus means following Him, bearing a cross, and carrying a yoke of service (Matthew 11:29). Following Jesus means separation from the world, walking the path of rejection and reproach. Following Jesus is no child's play, and before responding to a consecration service and coming forward to the strains of "Where He Leads Me I Will Follow," it is well that we first count the cost. Following Christ we shall: be obedient to God's will (John 12:24 - 26); enter the wilderness (Matthew 4:1); be rejected by our own (Luke 4:28 , 29); be misunderstood (Luke 7:39); go with Him to Gethsemane (Luke 22:39); be falsely accused (Mark 14:56); and go with Him up the hill of Calvary (Galatians 2:20); but we shall also share in the victory of the resurrection (Philippians 3:11). Yes following Jesus means going "without the camp, bearing his reproach" (Hebrew 13:13).
An old Chinese woman brought her ancestral tablet to the missionary who had been the means of her conversion, and requested that it might be burned. The missionary responded to the request. A further request was made regarding the utensil in which the ashes of the ancestors were preserved, that it might be destroyed. The missionary suggested that the pot might do service to keep a plant in. "No," said the woman after thinking for a few minutes, "it belongs to the devil, and all that's connected with him must be destroyed." Whereupon she picked it up, and going outside the missionary's house dashed it against the wall and began to sing in a cracked voice: "Follow, follow, I will follow Jesus, Anywhere everywhere, I will follow on."
Have you ever come to Jesus for salvation? If not, do it now. If you have come to Him, are you willing now to follow Him in complete dedication? Today where will your steps lead you?
"Bread For Each Day"
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