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)
The park is a great place to observe human behavior. Since I have a lot of humans, I do a lot of observing. As I watched my kids play at the park one day, I noticed that a little boy had fallen in with my pack and was running around with one of my then three-year-olds. As they ran past me, I heard the boy call back to my son, “Follow me!” My son replied with a very enthusiastic “Okay!” and dutifully followed the other boy’s lead. He didn’t know the other child, but it didn’t matter. He trusted that wherever his new friend went would lead to something good.
It made me think of Jesus’ call to “take up your cross and follow me.” It made me wonder if I was as enthusiastic about it as my son was when he was beckoned by the other boy. Jesus’ call was not a call to follow Him around a playground or even to bear some life burden. This was a call to die to self and be willing to lose all for His sake (including family, friends, and possessions). That may not seem nearly as fun as a run around the park, but the focus should be on the one who made the call. This was not a stranger, this was a Savior. Where He leads is always good though it may be through many “dangers, toils, and fears.” We know He takes us through those tough times for our good and His glory.
In the book “Band of Brothers,” Stephen E. Ambrose describes the chaos and confusion experienced by paratroopers landing in Normandy on D-Day. Spread out over a large area, they worked to find others in their company while avoiding German fire. As men began to regroup, Lieutenant Winters would tell men to “follow me” until they were reunited with those from headquarters. Later that day, Winters would again tell a group of men to “follow me” as he carried out orders to destroy a German battery that was attacking troops landing at Utah beach. Winters went on to become a Major and was beloved by his men in E Company. After the war, one of his men would describe why he would follow Winters anywhere he led: “When I was with you, I knew everything was absolutely under control.”
We can have confidence that the One who leads us has everything absolutely under control. That should motivate us to respond daily with an enthusiastic “Okay!” to the call of Jesus to “follow Me.”