More Than Words

“And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, Jesus said to them, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.’” Luke 9:23

There is a well-known Christian hymn entitled, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” that you may have grown up singing in church. The lyrics are:

“I have decided to follow Jesus…No turning back. No turning back.

Though none go with me, I still will follow…No turning back. No turning back.

My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus…No turning back. No turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me…No turning back. No turning back.”

I feel quite sure the writer of this hymn was either familiar with Luke 8:34 or was divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit when he penned those lyrics. The words that Jesus spoke to His disciples in Luke 8:34 weren’t a list of requirements one must do in order to follow Him (that would be salvation by works), but rather a picture of what life would be like for His followers. It was as if Jesus was saying, “If you’re going to follow Me, you might as well go ahead and take up your cross, because this new life is going to be one of sacrifice, just like Mine.”

If you look at the context of this verse, Jesus’ words make perfect sense. Previously, in verse 31, He had taught them that He would suffer “many things,” including being killed, but that He would rise again. Peter immediately tried to rebuke Jesus, not wanting to believe that his Lord would suffer. Jesus replied to Peter in verse 33, “You are not setting your mind on the things of God but on the things of man.” What “things of man” do you think Jesus was referring to? I think He meant self-gratification instead of self-denial; self-preservation instead of bearing a cross, otherwise known as self-sacrifice. I believe Jesus meant anything that we treasure more than we treasure Him and His Kingdom, like safety, comfort, success, or the esteem of man. It’s easy to sing the words, “I have decided to follow Jesus.” But do we really mean them?

A man from India originally spoke those lyrics, who, along with his family, decided to follow Jesus in the mid-19th Century. Called to renounce his faith by the village chief, the convert declared, “I have decided to follow Jesus.” His two children were then killed and in response to threats against his wife, he continued, “Though none go with me, still I will follow.” His wife was killed, and he was executed while singing, “The cross before me, the world behind me.”

Could this man have known the sacrifice that he would make for his faith? Of course not. None of us do. And while most of us will never have to suffer such horrific loss in order to stand for Jesus, we are all still cross-bearers. That is what it means to follow Jesus. But we can rejoice in our hardships – both big and small - knowing that one day we will live forever with the One for Whose sake we now deny ourselves.

God, thank You for calling me to follow Jesus. Please help me to not just say the words, “I am a Christian,” but to deny myself, take up my cross, and live like Jesus lived. In Jesus’ name, Amen.