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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks on Following the Christ (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 59. How to Follow
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How to Follow
Shall we take a look at that face? a long look? Shall we go? Practically going means three things, a decision, a habit and a purpose; a thoughtful, calculating decision, a daily unbroken habit, an unalterable north-star sort of purpose.
Go alone in some quiet corner where you can think things out. Look at what it may mean for you to follow, so far as you know now. Most of it you don't know, and won't know, can't know except as it works out in your life. Take a long, quiet, thoughtful look at the road. Then take a longer, quieter, steadier look at Him, Christ Jesus, once crucified for you, now seated in glory with all power, and asking you today to be a channel for His power. Then decide. Say, "Lord Jesus, I will follow Thee. This is my decision. By Thy help, I follow Thee, I'll follow Thee all the way." That's the first step, the decision.
As I entered the tent at Keswick one morning, a friend handed me these lines, which came to her pen at the close of a previous meeting:
"I will follow Thee, dear Master,
Though the road be rough and steep,
Thou wilt hold me lest I falter,
Thy strong hand must safely keep.
Enter in, Lord, cleanse Thy temple,
Give the grace to put away
All that hinders, all that's doubtful,
O'er my life hold blessed sway.
Use me, Master, for Thy glory,
Live out Thine own life through me,
That my life may tell the story,
And win others unto Thee.
Keep me trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
Walking closely by Thy side,
Keep me resting, sweetly resting,
As I in Thy love abide."
Then plan your work and time so as to get a bit of time off alone every day with the Book and with the Master. The chief thing is not to pray, though you will pray. It is not for Bible study, though that will be there too. The chief thing is to meet with the Lord Jesus Himself. He will come to you through the Book. He will fit its messages into your questions and perplexities. He Himself will come to meet with you when you so go to meet with Him. You won't always realize His presence, for you may sometimes be tired. But you can recognize His presence. You can cultivate the habit of recognizing His presence.
This is your bit of daily school-time, with the Book and the Master. It will keep your spirit sweet, your heart hot, and your judgment sane and poised. This is the second thing, the habit. It is the thing you cannot get along without. It must go in daily. Without it things will tangle; your heart will cool, your spirit sometimes take on an edge that isn't good, your judgment get warped and twisted, and your will grow either wabbly or stubborn. This second thing must be put in the daily round, and kept in. It helps to hold you steady to the first thing.
Then the third is the purpose to be true to whatever the Master tells you, to be true to Himself; never to fail Him. You may flinch within your feelings. You probably will. Yet you need never flinch in action. Follow the beckoning Figure just ahead in the road, regardless of thorny bush or cutting knife. Keep your spirit sweet, your tongue gentle and slow, your touch soft and even, your purpose as inflexible as wrought steel, or as granite, as unmovable as the North Star. That's the third thing, the purpose.
And the three make the three-fold cord with which to tie you fast and hard to the Lone Man ahead. He is less alone as we follow close up. The three together help you understand the meaning of obedience. The decision is the beginning of obedience; the habit teaches you what you are to obey and gives you strength to do it; the purpose is the actual obedience in daily round, the holding true to what He has told you.
Years ago, a young Jewess, of a wealthy family, that stood high in the Jewry of New York, heard the call of the despised Nazarene. It came to her with great, gentle power, and she decided that she must follow. Her father was very angry, and threatened disinheritance if she so disgraced the family. But she remained quietly, gently, inflexibly, true to her decision. At last the father planned a social occasion at the home to which large numbers were invited. And he said to his daughter, "You must sing at this reception, and make this your disavowal of the Christian faith." And she quietly said, "Father, I will sing."
The evening came, the parlours were filled, the time came for her to sing, and all listened eagerly, for they knew the beauty of her voice. With her heart in both eyes and voice, she began singing:
"Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou, from hence, my all shalt be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I've sought, and hoped, and known:
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are all my own."
And she passed out into the night of disinheritance on earth, "into an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." This was her decision. She had seen His face! All else paled in its light.
Shall we go, too?