Monday, September 09, 2013

Following Jesus Is Not An Option

"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me!" Matthew 16:24

"After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. 'Follow Me,' Jesus said to him; and Levi got up, left everything and followed Him." Luke 5:27-28

"We have left everything to follow You!" Mark 10:28

To follow Christ is to go where He leads, without questioning or demurring. It may be to a life of trial, suffering, or sacrifice--but no matter; we have nothing whatever to do with the kind of life to which our Lord calls us. Our only simple duty is to obey and follow.

We know that Jesus will lead us only in right paths, and that the way He takes slopes upward and ends in eternal glory!

Each new day on which we are about to enter is unopened, and we know not what shall befall us; but if we follow Christ, we need have no fear. So let us leave the old day with gratitude to God for its mercies, with penitence for its failures and sins--and let us enter the new day with earnest resolve in Christ's name to make it the holiest and most beautiful we have ever lived, as we follow Him.

"My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish--ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand!" John 10:27-28

(J.R. Miller, "Help for the Day")

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