Will You Decide to Follow Jesus?

A very familiar hymn to many of us is I Have Decided to Follow Jesus. Let’s talk about this. The first verse is very simple: “I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus.” The same sentence repeated three times. I don’t pretend to know the mind of the writer but it’s interesting to me that the hymn begins with a simple declaration. I think we would all agree that life’s battles are first fought in the mind. Our actions follow our thoughts…”believior determines behavior”. If you want to follow Jesus, the first step is to decide mentally to follow Jesus. The second verse repeats three times: “the world behind me the cross before me”. We can’t follow Jesus and follow the world…the paths are often too divergent. The world must be placed in the rear view mirror. We are in the world but not of the world. The cross, a symbol of the sacrifice required to follow Jesus, must daily be in our field of vision. The third verse repeats: “though none go with me still I will follow”. The decision to follow Jesus is one that is not dependent on others. We are not to be swayed by public opinion. Thankfully for most of us this is not our situation. We don’t have to follow alone. Rather, we have a community of people who stand ready and willing to follow Jesus with us. I hope you take advantage of this community. Though it is noble to proclaim that you “will” follow Jesus alone…that is definitely a difficult path to follow. The last verse concludes with the phrase, “Will you decide now to follow Jesus?” I will leave you with this same question. Will you decide to follow Jesus? You are not assured of the details of the path. You are almost certainly guaranteed to miss out on much of what the world has to offer. But you stand to gain so much more. If I can help, please let me know.