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Line
Up To The Right
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There was a kid in
our neighborhood who was a bully. He ordered the other kids
around and generally did whatever he wanted to. He was the big
boss boy.
Once in a while he would ride up on his bicycle and round up
all the kids in the area for a game of follow the leader. You
didn’t dare not play, because he’d get you if you
didn’t. So, we’d get on our bikes, line up, and take off
behind our leader.
He was a harsh taskmaster, our leader was. Sometimes he’d
take us out behind Butler’s Body Shop, and we would wind
through all the old junk cars, bumping up and down as we went.
At other times we would go around and around Lindsey’s feed
store until we got so dizzy we could hardly keep the bikes up.
We weren’t supposed to go around Strickland’s Lake, but if
he told us to ride into the edge of it, we’d go without
hesitation; we’d rather face Mom’s wrath than the wrath of
our leader.
We lined up or we got in trouble.
Now, we don’t follow Christ for the same reason, but
nonetheless with the same dedication. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus
remarked that “If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Following Christ is a wilful decision, one we make because we
want to do so. We don’t have to–we want to. The passage
says, “if any man will come after me,” and that means that
the path to glory He recommends is open to all men everywhere.
You don’t have to have some kind of pedigree or educational
diploma, or participate in some sort of apprentice program to
be eligible to follow our Leader. You don’t have to have
some other person’s approval to do it, either. All you have
to do is have faith in our Leader, line up to the right and
follow Him.
But, I have to warn you: that’s not as easy as it may sound.
In order to follow Him, you have to deny yourself. That means
that you give Him complete control. It means that you can’t
do it half-way. You can’t follow Him and the world at the
same time (see Colossians 3:1-3; I John 3:15-f). You decide by
yourself where you’ll line up. Just as we no longer
acknowledged our will and submitted instead to the will of the
bully, just so–but for a bigger reason–we must submit
completely to the will of our Leader ( see I Peter 3:15).
But following His lead does not stop at mere self-denial, you
have to “take up your cross.” That means we must come to
bear up under whatever weight is involved in following our
Leader. That means we may have to suffer ridicule at times,
endure taunting, be subjected to various sorts of criticisms,
and all because of our following a course which is drastically
different from the one the world around us is following.
Here are some things necessary to line up right.
1. We must consider all that He says as the final word on the
matter. It is not enough for a thing to sound
religious, or feel holy, it must have the approval of Christ
or else we are not actually following Him (see Matthew 15:9).
2. We must learn that self denial involves the development of
an attitude of total submission. Far too many people
have developed a kind of “feel good” religion. If it feels
right, then it must be right, they deduce. They compare
themselves with themselves and judge themself by themselves.
In doing so, they are not wise (see II Corinthians 10:12).
3. Self denial does not mean there’s nothing to do.
Some people seem to have the notion that once they’ve turned
their life over to Christ they are absolved of any further
responsibility. That’s not true. To deny oneself is to make
a mental choice to carry a cross. And that means
inconvenience, difficulty, even downright hardship, at times
(see Matthew 7:21).
4. Following Jesus means keeping your eye on the goal. “Looking
to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,” is
necessary to the continuance of our heavenly journey. Jesus,
“for the glory that was set before Him,” endured the death
of the cross (Hebrews 12:2). We focus on the goal so that we
can stay on course, travel toward it all the while. We have to
work hard to get home. When a person is pre-occupied with the
things of this life, he likely has little time to concentrate
on the higher course of pursuit. In fact, many have stopped
here and have gotten so used to this place they no longer have
a desire to go home. How sad.
Line up to the right. Follow the Leader. Don’t let anything
get you off course. Do what He says, go where He goes.
You’ll never be sorry.
Dee Bowman
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