“I’ll follow You wherever You go.”

Have you ever promised God, “I’ll follow You wherever You go?”

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He never claimed that being his follower would be easy. In fact, he often stated quite the opposite. Still, many were attracted to the miracles, growing fame and excitement surrounding His ministry, claiming they wanted to join Him. One such occasion took place as Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. A man came up to Him as Jesus walked along the road and confidently declared, “I will follow you wherever you go.” (Luke, 9:57-58) Jesus stops to speak directly with the man and carefully spells out the cost: wild animals and birds all have places to rest “but the Son of Man has no place even to lay His head.”

Traveling a little farther, Jesus is met by more people and extends to them a personal invitation, “Come, follow me.” At first, some seem to welcome the call but their acceptance is immediately followed with, “but first let me….” One man confessed he wanted to return home to bury his father, another to say good-bye to his family. We can wonder whether their loving sentiments towards their families were entirely genuine, as Jesus would never ask us to violate His own command to “honor your mother and your father.”

Although they appeared to be willing to follow Christ, in reality, it was “but let me first…” Following Christ was just too inconvenient. Maybe this is why Jesus teaches us a few verses earlier, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

Has God been signaling for you to follow Him? Perhaps into a new ministry? A missions trip? Or maybe He’s inviting you into a place of healing (a place you may have been resisting)?

When God calls upon us to step out in faith, have you ever responded, “Yes Lord, but let me first [fill in the blank]…”?  I certainly have. However, when I look back on the times I resisted, I can count the lost blessings, exacerbated hurts, intensified fears and missed opportunities that occurred as a result.

Now, whenever I’m confronted with a choice of whether to follow God’s leading, I no longer count the cost of what might happen if I do follow Christ, I count the cost of what might happen if I don’t.

Shadia Hrichi

If you enjoyed this week’s “Moments with God,” please leave a comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts.