Follow, Follow, I Will Follow Jesus

Follow, follow, I will follow Jesus,
Anywhere, everywhere, I will follow him
Follow, follow, I will follow Jesus,
Anywhere he leads me, I will follow him

I randomly started humming this old hymn recently.  It immediately took me back over twenty years into the past.

It was a chilly Sunday morning just after dawn when a group of us young people, all around the same age, followed our pastor and other ministers down to the waterside.

The pastor and congregation sang this song as we, a group of guys and girls, went to be baptized making a covenant to follow Christ.

 None of us knew then where following Him would lead.

We had no idea that following him didn’t mean that our life story would be written according to our perfect little plans.

We didn’t know then that mixed with the joys, there would also be tears of pain and disappointment as we navigated that narrow path in following Him.

It didn’t register then that there would be times we’d question His decisions.

No one could have gotten us to believe that we'd sometimes lose sight of Him as we followed.

At that moment, we were filled with excitement, wonder and expectation. We had decided that follow, follow we would follow Jesus.

Today I can honestly say I’m so glad for that teenage decision to follow.  It has made all the difference in my life. 

I’m also thankful that the most important thing that those who counseled us during our baptismal classes said stuck with me throughout my walk with Christ.  They told us that no matter what we encountered in life Jesus would always be there.

In the good times it’s easy to follow but in the difficult times, it’s not so easy.  So during those times I hold on to what I know and believe with all my heart, Jesus is with me.  He will never leave me so I will keep following, keep believing, and keep trusting him.

 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  Luke 9:23 

Trusting Him,

 ~Bernadine~