Meditation for Monday
And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto Him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Luke 9:57
During a recent election campaign, as the various political parties clamored for as many votes as they could possibly wring out of the gullible public, I was reminded of an old saying about election platforms being like railway platforms: they’re not to stand on but to get in on. Many politicians seem to live on hope; hope that the voters will forget all the promises that were made during the campaign. But it’s not only in politics that broken promises abound. Look at the soaring divorce rates around us and see that every marriage breakup is the result of two people who are unable or unwilling to keep some lifelong promises they made to each other. Many children leave home because of broken promises by their parents, and many parents have broken hearts because of promises that their children never intended to keep. It’s actually pretty easy to make a promise… all it takes is a few words. But to keep a promise, that takes a commitment and often carries a price tag. Our text contains a promise that Jesus could tell was just the uttering of words.
Some promises are pretty trivial and their breaking has little consequences. But some are very important, and their breaking has dire consequences. No promise could be more important than that uttered by the man in our text. A promise to unconditionally and unreservedly follow Jesus was surely a great promise. But how great a commitment such a promise demands! As you and I consider this man’s promise, how much of it are you or I willing to make. And how much would we be willing to keep?
Following Jesus is what we should be willing to do as Christians. And the Holy Spirit gives us the power to do so, as we allow Him to control us. The man in today’s text did not know that Jesus was on his way to Calvary. But we do know that. Would we be willing to risk our lives, pour out our abilities and energies, and give up our own ideas and purposes to follow Jesus? Many have done so, and many have paid high prices. However, the high prices they have paid have all been eternally invested with no possibility of a failure in Heaven’s bank.
Jesus has kept His promise to us, and has forever sheltered our souls from wrath and guaranteed us the eternal bliss of His glorious presence. Can we make, and keep promises to Him, secure in the knowledge that He will forever appreciate? -Jim MacIntosh