I Will Follow Him

Reading todays Gospel immediately brought to mind the song "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March. I remember my older sisters singing along to that song when I was a little girl. Listening to it as an adult and a follower of Jesus Christ, I appreciate the words when Christ is the "Him" referred to:

I will follow Him, follow Him 

Wherever He may go, 

And near Him, 

I always will be, 

For nothing can keep me away, 

He is my destiny. 

I will follow Him, ever since 

He touched my heart I knew, 

There isn't an ocean too deep, 

A mountain so high, it can keep, 

Keep me away, away from His love. 

I love Him, I love Him, I love Him, 

And where He goes, I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow. 

I can imagine the followers of Christ in the Gospel (Mark 1:14-20) saw in the Flesh then what we see by faith today: 

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they left their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.

In Anne a lay apostle's book Lessons in Love, she lets us know we are not the only ones doing the following . . . 

"When we wander, He follows, wherever we go, waiting to illuminate for us the condition of our soul in His light of truth. Jesus loves us. Our sinfulness saddens Him but He will never strike out violently against us. Now it must be said that one of the greatest graces Jesus allows is sudden conversion. These St. Paul-like experiences must be the delight of the saints in heaven. I believe Jesus does this when He needs service from the person NOW. He perhaps has tried to shift the soul gently but the soul is stubborn in his resisting the plan of our beautiful Jesus. This, my friends, I believe to be the most loving of actions. A soul bounced from his horse, metaphorically speaking, surely can have no doubt that his service is of urgent importance to the Kingdom and his resistance is doing damage to the Kingdom. Clearly, the humble soul rests in the latter thought. Even in situations like this, there is evidence of the Lord’s gentleness. Jesus surrounds the soul with grace, sending in help from both heavenly and earthly sources. The soul is guided very carefully afterwards into the service intended for him. I think that a soul experiencing the Lord’s correction abruptly will sometimes not feel that it happened gently in terms of the impact it has on his life. Here is why. When someone turns on the lights suddenly and a person sees the error or falseness in which he has been living, that person might be tempted to run for cover. My friends, this feeling of being exposed is inevitable. Everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed on the housetops (Luke 12). Again, I say, do this now. We must ask Jesus to show us any areas where we can improve ourselves and then we will have no unpleasant surprises when we die. Jesus will be gentle in showing us the wrong way and the right way. Once we ask forgiveness, acknowledging our error, Jesus simply draws us into the correct course."

Lay apostles, despite our transgressions, Jesus loves us. We can't hide from Him; we can't pretend He isn't watching when we digress from the path He has laid out for us. So talk to Him. Tell Him when you are struggling. Ask for His help. He is waiting for you to ask.

Thank you, Lord, for the kind and gentle way You show me where I'm getting it wrong . . . and for the loving way you guide me as I make my way back to the right path.  I will always follow You!

God bless,
Bonnie