The words of the song “I Have Decided” go like this:
I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; No turning back, no turning back. Though none go with me, still I will follow; though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow; No turning back, no turning back.
The book of John talks about this. John 6:60 “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” In our world we have many who pursue their visions with passion and never give up until they reach their goal no matter what the obstacles are. It was said, “Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." Exactly true or not it makes a good point.
The book of John talks about this. John 6:60 “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” In our world we have many who pursue their visions with passion and never give up until they reach their goal no matter what the obstacles are. It was said, “Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." Exactly true or not it makes a good point.
We could spend much time on people who never gave up. What if we took this approach back to the church? In our modern church many have given up on the gospel and have turned to another gospel such as pedalling the gospel for profit, adapting a fortune 500 mentality (adopting business principals above the gospel message). Instead of sticking to the word of God, which quite frankly is offensive they turned to a soft sell, marshmallow gospel that is not the true word of God. Many are more worried about offending people than they are about offending God. Yes they do not admit it but still it is true. God is looking for a few good men and women who will say; though none go with me I will follow and I will never turn back no matter what the obstacles. Jesus, the Apostle Paul and others become their role model instead of men with flowered shirts and Armani suits. The disciples who were with Jesus said this is hard teaching and many left him. Not only did Jesus know who would betray him, he knew who would not believe. Since we are in this for the long haul we need to stick to the word of God. Yes we will see hardships and be tested but in the long run, in the course of time, in due time God will lift us up and we will see the immeasurable and the eternal. The question is; is your faith capable of moving forward though none go with you?
