FOLLOW, I WILL FOLLOW HIM

FOLLOW, I WILL FOLLOW HIM

As I was thinking about what to write to my friends out there today, I want to ask the question: “Who are you following today?”  As I look at the world around me and see the faces of people in the crowds, or in their cars, I wonder who they are following.  The world seems to be crumbling around us.  There are wars and rumors of wars, and so many people in deep struggles. 

But we have an anchor in Jesus, our Lord.  Since we are going into the summer season, I am reminded again of the many years at summer camp, high in the Sierras of California.  I went every summer to our church camp starting when I was nine years old.  And oh, the memories of those times at camp!  I remember especially those special evening times around the campfire. 

Those were times of dedication of my life to the Lord, and especially at the final service when we were all handed a pinecone, which represented our lives and service to the Lord.  And as we made our commitments to the Lord, we would toss those pinecones into the fire.  Those memories are priceless to me.  And I remember one particular chorus that we sang at that time as we made our commitment to follow Him always.  I remember the tears and the determination that I would follow Him all the way.

And that dedication has followed me down through the years and into my senior years now as I became a Pastor and have led a life, to the best of my ability in Jesus, to be of service to my Lord and Savior.  Oh, the road has not been easy at time.  In this season of my life I have faced health issues this past year and have had to curtail some of my activities.  But I have made a fresh commitment to follow Him the rest of my days.

FOLLOW, I WILL FOLLOW THEE

“Jesus calls me, I must follow, follow Him today; when His tender voice is pleading how can I delay? 

Chorus:  Follow, I will follow Thee, my Lord, follow ev’ry passing day.  My tomorrows are all known to Thee, Thou wilt lead me all the way.

Jesus calls me, I must follow, follow ev’ry hour, know the blessing of His presence, fullness of His pow’r.

Jesus calls me, I must follow, follow Him always; when my Saviour goes before me I can never stray.  (Howard L. Brown)

He is calling, calling you to follow Him today.  He is calling you to look on His Wonderful Face and to give your life to Him.  Time is so short, my friends.  There is not time to delay as you do not know what tomorrow may bring.  Even today as I write this blog there is a big storm brewing in the Midwest, and I wonder how many will be swept into eternity without Jesus.

He is calling to look up into His Wonderful Face.  He is calling to focus on Him and take our eyes off the trials and struggles of this life.  Just a glimpse of Him, and all our tomorrows will belong to Him.  When you know the blessing of His Presence, you are looking into the face of our Wonderful Counselor, The Prince of Peace, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.  He is our Saviour, Redeemer and Friend.  He is the Great Shepherd of the Sheep who goes ahead of His sheep and they follow Him.  He is the Great I AM, the God of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

And this walk with Jesus is an every hour walk with Him.  It is feeling His Presence in all the circumstances of our lives.  He leads and guides us through the valleys and onto the mountain tops.  He leads us when the wind blows in our lives, and our ship is being rocked.  He leads us when the sun is shining down on our lives.  He walks us through grief and great sorrow.  That is when we learn to know the blessing of His Presence, and the fullness of power in our lives.

And He gives us that power by the Holy Spirit to walk with Him, talk with Him, and tell others about Him.  Do you know Jesus today?  Are you following Him closely down that path that leads to life eternal?  When we keep our eyes on His Wonderful face, we can never stray.  It is when we take our eyes off Him and start looking at the storms around us, then we lose our focus on Him and lose our way.

I urge you to make a commitment to follow Him today.  No matter what is happening in your life or in the world around you, Jesus is calling, calling you.  It is the greatest commitment you will ever make.  It is a commitment for all time and eternity. 

As I have shared in the past, there are many choices in this life, but eternity has only two, heaven or hell.  What will be your choice today?  Will you follow Jesus down the narrow road to life eternal, or take the broad way which leads to destruction? (Matthew 7:13-14).

I pray that you will make a decision to follow Jesus today, and feel the blessing of His Presence for now and always, and someday will end your journey with Jesus in your heavenly home.

In the Wonderful Name of Jesus,

Pastor Sharon