Originally published Wednesday, 22 May 2013.
“Come, follow me…” Jesus said. Matthew 4:19b (NIV)
Photo: Creationswap.com
A FEW YEARS ago in the Philippines I was given the opportunity to climb an active volcano.
On the way up I struggled and sweated and slipped my way uphill through sand that could only have been made of ash.
The view at the top was magnificent but I didn’t find God there.
I edged down towards the crater with our guide and almost slipped on a corner but he caught my hand and steadied my feet. He was in rubber flip-flops but his feet were as steady as a mountain goat.
The time came to descend and I decided that I would follow in our guide’s footsteps.
I would literally put my feet where he had stepped.
That’s how the descent started, as he lifted his foot, I placed mine in the displaced soil. The plan worked really well, till I was about half way down, and decided that if I just put my feet in the vicinity of his, I’d be safe and I wouldn’t slip and fall.
I stopped being so careful, stopped walking in his footsteps and the ground slid out from under me and I just managed to stop myself from landing in the dust.
I returned to the rhythm of placing my feet in the guides’ footsteps.
As I did I began to think of Jesus.
I began to think how he walked up to the men who became his disciples and said, “Come follow me”.
I pondered why Jesus didn’t say, “Come walk beside me” or “Come with me” or “Come along for the party”.
Instead he said “Come follow me…come put your feet where I have trodden and I will show you a new life, I will show you a new way of living and even though we walk along the edge of a volcano you can trust me that I know the path and that I won’t let you stumble and fall.”
How will you respond to Jesus’ invitation to “Come follow me”?
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