What it means to-Follow Christ
“Christ … [left] us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” ~1 Pet. 2:21
“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” ~1 Cor. 11:1
To follow, as in our text, does not mean in every particular, but in principle. For example, we are not to make a whip of cords and drive out those who commercialize Christianity in the Church, but we are to manifest our outrage for it. The popular logo a few years ago W.W.J.D., “What would Jesus do,” should have been W.W.J.S. That is, what would Jesus say.
Paul, speaking of young Titus wrote, “… walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?” He did not emulate Paul in every particular but did in spirit, in the principled things that mattered.
When our Lord mentioned following Him, He said the prerequisite was an individual taking up his or her own cross, not His! His cross was forever too weighty, the whole world couldn’t have lifted it, not even a budge. But each of us can take up his own individual cross and carry it. All can sing:
“Jesus, I my cross have taken
All to leave and follow Thee
Destitute, despised, forsaken
Thou from hence my all shall be.”
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