JONI: Follow me. That’s something we often hear Jesus saying to us either from the pages of Scripture or from that still small voice in our hearts.
AL: And certainly on this Easter week, many of us are following closely the footsteps of our Savior. Sunday He entered Jerusalem. Monday He cleared the temple. Then He cursed the fig tree, and, finally, He spent the day in Bethany.
JONI: On Thursday, He celebrated the Last Supper and right after He washed His disciples’ feet, He went to the Garden of Gethsemane where He was betrayed.
AL: From there quickly He went through a mock trial and was hastily crucified.
JONI: More than any other time of the year, it is this time right around Easter when I hear Jesus saying to me, “Joni, follow me.” Because I see myself back there on Palm Sunday shouting hosannas and cheering the Lord on, and I'm right with Him when He clears out His Father’s temple – “Yeah, quit commercializing the message!” And I keep in step with Him as He and His disciples walk back to Bethany…
AL: In the upper room…
JONI: Yes, and I picture myself sitting close to Him at the table when He breaks the bread and wine.
And I'm humbled when I imagine Him washing my feet – I lean on my wrist and listen with fascination as He talks about the coming Holy Spirit. And I even find myself getting angry at Judas who rushes away from the scene to betray the Lord. I follow Jesus to the Garden and, unlike the others, I imagine myself pinching myself to make sure I stay awake to pray. Hours later I get mad at Peter for denying Christ and I see myself huddling next to John during that terrible trial. And when the mob screams in the street for Jesus’ crucifixion, I yell back at them to remind them that just a week earlier they were excited about Him.
But then something happens at the cross.
AL: What’s that, Joni?
JONI: When I hear Jesus say, “Follow me to the cross,” I stop short. That’s where my imagination ends. In real life, Jesus asks us – He beckons us – to take up our cross and follow Him into a self-denying, suffering life.
AL: That’s not as easy, is it?
JONI: No, we don’t want to follow Him quite that seriously. Oh, we’re all for the heroics, the sentiment, the intimacy and the adventure and the romance of following the greatest man who ever walked the earth – let’s face it, it feels good to sit at the Lord's table, to be in the inner circle and to imagine Jesus washing our feet. But when Jesus says, “Follow me,” it’s a place of painful sacrifice.
Friend listening, are you willing? Are you ready to take on all that the cross means? Jesus died for sin on His cross. Can you die to your sin as you pick up your cross and daily follow Him? It’s the question our Savior asks on this Holy Week.
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JONI AND FRIENDS
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Agoura Hills, CA 93176
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