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Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:25-27 NASB1995.
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:17-31 NASB1995.
In the late 1800s in a Northern Indian village of Assam, converts to Christianity faced persecution and martyrdom by some of the most oppressive forms of Hinduism. When an entire family converted in a particularly hostile region, the village leaders arrested the father and decided to make an example of him for anyone else considering this outside belief. The man was given a choice to recant or watch his children be executed, a threat they followed through with when he refused. His children were killed by archers right before his eyes.
After seeing his children executed, they gave the man another opportunity to recant, warning that his wife would be next if he didn’t. Again refusing, the man watched the archers kill his wife. Finally, with bows readied and arrows aimed, the village leaders gave the ultimatum that if he didn’t recant of his new-found faith in his supposed Savior, the widowed and childless father would follow the same fate. He was martyred along with the rest of his family.
When the Welsh missionary who had been working with the tribe returned, he found that revival had broken out in the village, even the executioners had converted. He was told that the bold witness of this family in the face of death had led many others to faith in Jesus Christ.
Witnesses told the missionary that when the father was given the choice to recant or watch his children be executed the man said, “I have decided to follow Jesus, there is no turning back.” After seeing his wife murdered and given another opportunity to change his mind, the man replied, “Though no one is here to go with me, still I will follow Jesus.” The unwavering witness of this martyred family ultimately led to the Tribe’s salvation and to the penning of this beautiful hymn of Indian origin.
The decision to follow and be faithful to Jesus comes with a price. Some pay with their lives. Some lose connection with loved ones; others suffer the loss of friendships. Some give up esteemed positions, some work tirelessly within their own communities, others leave their native lands to share the love of Christ in obscure places around the globe. For many, just the putting off of our old selves and living in the renewal and transformation of the Holy Spirit causes hardships in ordinary relationships and daily living.
I invite us all to consider where Jesus is asking us to be obedient today. Have we counted the cost of that decision? Are we still willing to say, “I have decided to follow Jesus, there is no turning back?”
Here is a link version that honors the hymn's origins to listen to this song: https://youtu.be/8nujFR2whms
I have decided to follow Jesus
I have decided to follow Jesus
I have decided to follow Jesus
No turning back no turning back
The world behind me the cross before me
The world behind me the cross before me
The world behind me the cross before me
No turning back no turning back
Though none go with me I still will follow
Though none go with me I still will follow
Though none go with me I still will follow
No turning back no turning back
Regina Cyzick Harlow
District Conference Moderator
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