Follow Me!?

How is it that two little words, “Follow Me”, define our calling as Christians?

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me’” (Matthew 16:24).

“After that He (Jesus) went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, ‘Follow Me’” (Luke 5:27).

“The next day He (Jesus) purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me’” (John 1:43).

“If anyone serves Me (Jesus), he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him” (John 12:26).

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” (John 10:27).

“And He (Jesus) said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men’” (Matthew 4:19).

“Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!’” (John 21:22).

I once read of a young woman who told of the following experience. She was traveling in the Far East, and at a certain point in the trip a guide came to assume responsibility for the travelers and to lead them on their journey. The guide said to them, "Will you please give all that you have to me? I will take charge of everything." So, people began to hand over to him all of their luggage, but the women were hanging on to their purses.

The guide said again, "You must turn everything over to me." The women protested that they might need the things in their purses, but the guide replied that the purses would be much safer with him, and that they would be much safer without them.

Before long, the travelers found themselves standing on the platform at the railway station while the guide attended to the baggage. A train rolled in, and the entire party boarded it. No sooner were they seated, than their guide returned. "Would you all please be good enough to follow me?" he asked. And then he promptly led them off the train. "What is wrong?" they asked. "Why did you get us off that train?" He replied, "That is the wrong train. From now on will you all be kind enough to follow after me and not go before me?"

The next several days were long and tiring, and everyone was anxiously awaiting arrival at their destination. Then some stranger, who had come through the town they were going to, told them that there were no accommodations there. The hotels were all full. There would be no place for them there. They all wondered, because their guide had said nothing about it. However, when they arrived everything was in readiness and the accommodations had been prepared for them. it was then that the guide said quietly, "You can trust me to see that preparations are made ahead for you. You can trust me, if you will simply follow me."

This story, told by Dr. Morgan, illustrates the words of Jesus. He goes before us. He makes a way, even where there is no way. Always, He says, "Follow Me". As our Guide, He says to us, "Entrust everything to Me. Then, do not go out ahead of Me. Follow behind Me."