Vol. 150: ”Follow Me”

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

1. "I travelled down a lonely road and no one seemed to care/  The burden on my weary back had bowed me to despair/ I oft complained to Jesus how folks were treating me/ And then I heard Him say so tenderly,/ 'My feet were also weary upon the Calv'ry road;/ The cross became so heavy, I fell beneath the load,/ Be faithful weary pilgrim, the morning I can see, /Just lift your cross and follow close to Me.'
2. "'I work so hard for Jesus,' I often boast and say,/ 'I've sacrificed a lot of things to walk the narrow way,/ I gave up fame and fortune; I'm worth a lot to Thee,"/ And then I hear Him gently say to me,/ 'I left the throne of glory, and counted it but loss,/ My hands were nailed in anger upon a cruel cross,/ But now we'll make the journey with your hand safe in Mine,/ So lift your cross and follow close to Me.'
3. "O, Jesus, if I die upon a foreign field some day,/ 'Twould be no more than love demands, no less could I repay,/ 'No greater love hath mortal man than for a friend to die'/ These are the words He gently spoke to me,/ 'If just a cup of water I place within your hand,/ Then just a cup of water is all that I demand.'/ But if by death to living they can Thy glory see,/ I'll take my cross and follow close to Thee."

(Written by Ira F Stamphill; Copyright 1953 Singspiration/ASCAP)

This is another classic hymn that has been sung among the brotherhood for several years.

First of all, as we go by our Prime Directive "checkoff list", we can see that this is a spiritual song that it is intended to cultivate feelings of spiritual devotion, and also admonishes by urging us to duty and reminding us of the duty we have to take up our crosses and follow the Savior.

 The format is simple enough.  Each verse begins with the singer giving an example of his/her own life, whether it be maltreatment being suffered as a Christian, the allurement to boast about how well one is carrying out his/her duties to God and Christ, or even a restating of one's commitment to "be faithful until death" as John tells us to do in Revelation 2:10.

Those introductions are followed by an "answer" from Jesus in regards to all of these.  Granted, Jesus does not speak to us directly today (hasn't for the last nineteen centuries or so), but He does speak to us by the Word of God through the dictation of the Holy Spirit (John 16:12-13) to the inspired writers (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 3:15-16).  Now that we have that cleared up, we can verify if what the composer writes for each answer is in tune either with what Jesus actually said or with Scripture.

1. As the singer complains about how ill-treated he/she is by the folks around him or her, Jesus answers "so tenderly", "My feet were also weary upon the Calv'ry road;/ The cross became so heavy, I fell beneath the load (although He didn't actually state this, it is an accurate account of what happened during His crucifixion: John 19:17-18; Matthew 27:32; Luke 23:26),/ Be faithful weary pilgrim, the morning I can see (another allusion to what Jesus told John in Revelation 2:10: "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life"), / Just lift your cross and follow close to Me."
2. As the singer brags this time about his service to Christ, even going so far as to say, "I'm worth a lot to Thee," Jesus retorts ("gently" as the verse states), "I left the throne of glory, and counted it but loss,/ My hands were nailed in anger upon a cruel cross (this is definitely in keeping with what we are told in Heb 2:9, that "we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels...because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone"),/ But now we'll make the journey with your hand safe in Mine (although it is not phrased exactly this way, Philippians 4:13 does remind us that we can do "all things through Christ Who strengthens [us]"),/ So lift your cross and follow close to Me."
3. The singer begins by stating that he or she has no fear of death for His cause, even quoting the Lord from John 15:13 when He said,"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."  Then Jesus answers:
• This is where I have personally had problems.  I doubt that there is a search engine for any web browser that will locate a book/chapter/verse location where Jesus is quoted as saying,"If just a cup of water I place within your hand, then just a cup of water is all that I demand."  Obviously, the writer of this song took some artistic license with this, so now we are left to determine if the scriptural integrity of this song holds out.
• I have the church of Christ in Fremont, CA to thank for much of what I have written here.  They wrote rather extensibly on this song and a copy of that can be found at http://fremontchurchofchrist.org/Follow%20Me.pdf.  In this particular part of the song, they show that one way we could look at this would be from Mark 9:41 where Jesus says,"For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward."  This seems to parallel Matthew 10:42 where Jesus says that "whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."  In Matthew's account, Jesus prefaces that statement by saying that "whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives me receives Him who sent Me.  The one who receives a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward."  I find it a stretch to link these verses with Jesus' alleged statement in the song of Him giving you a cup of water and would have to disagree with them here.
• On the other hand, Jesus did say,"For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance.  But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away (Matthew 25:29)," and, "Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more (Luke 12:48)."  Jesus' alleged statement of "just a cup of water is all that I demand" seems more in tune with these actual statements of His, but seems...too delicate for what Jesus would tell us today.  In Mark 10:39, Jesus told James and John, "The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized (and they both saw that fulfilled, in Acts 12:1,2 and Revelation 1:9)."  In essence, it can be said that "Everyone to whom [a cup of water] was given, of him [a cup of water] will be required," but since Jesus promised us that we would see persecution for His cause (John 15:20), I have a feeling that "just a cup of water" is the same cup from which He drank (in essence, the "Holy Grail" is to suffer persecution for the One Whose Name we wear!).  So, if we do take that cup, then we, too, can sing, that "if by death to living, they can Thy glory see, I'll take my cross and follow close to Thee (Luke 9:23; 2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Note also that each verse of the song closes with the thought of taking up our crosses and following Him (verses 1 & 2, by commandment; verse 3, by following the command).  Jesus did say, "If anyone would come after me, let Him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23)."  As a slight antithesis, Jesus says that "whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:38)".

Let us, then, be ready to take up the cross, drink the cup with which He has entrusted us, and follow Him!

Again, I welcome your thoughts…

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Vol. 001: ”A Beautiful Life”

(Introductory Volume/Table of Contents link)

1. "Each day I'll do a golden deed, By helping those who are in need; My life on earth is but a span, And so I'll do the best I can. (Chor) 
2. "To be a child of God each day, My light must shine along the way; I'll sing His praise while ages roll, And strive to help some troubled soul. (Chor)
3. "The only life that will endure, Is one that's kind and good and pure; And so for God I'll take my stand, Each day I'll lend a helping hand. (Chor)
4. "I'll help someone in time of need, And journey on with rapid speed; I'll help the sick and poor and weak, And words of kindness to them speak. (Chor)
5. "While going down life's weary road, I'll try to lift some trav'ler's load; I'll try to turn the night to day, Make flowers bloom along the way.

Chor) "Life's evening sun is sinking low, A few more days and I must go, to meet the deeds that I have done, Where there will be no setting sun."

(Words and Music by William M. Golden)

As I have learned more about Boy Scouts in the last few years of my son being one (more than I did growing up as I never was in Scouts), I find myself referring to this number as "The Boy Scout Hymn".  After all what is the Scout Oath? "On my honor, I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times."  Then of course there is the Boy Scout slogan, "Do a good turn (deed) daily," mirrored by the opening words to this song:"Each day I'll do a golden deed/By helping those who are in need...."

Again let's begin with our Prime Directive "checkoff list": it seems this is more of a spiritual song intended to inspire or cultivate feelings of spiritual devotion as it admonishes by reminding us, perhaps even urging us, to the duty we have to help others where and when we can, fulfilling the law of Christ to "bear one anothers burdens" (Gal. 6:2).

 It is interesting how it alternates between urging us to duty and reminding us that our time to do so here on this planet is brief.  As we begin in the first verse, we basically state that we will do a good deed daily, but immediately turn and mention how short a time we have.  And each successive verse continues alternating between those thoughts from that point, even mentioning how "[our] light must shine along the way," so much so that we can "try to turn the night to day" (and frankly, if we can reflect the light of Christ in that manner, it's not beyond reason that we could, poetically speaking of course, "make flowers bloom along the way").

But even the chorus reminds us of the brevity of time we have here, and even if we live several years or even decades beyond this point, it is almost as if we have but "a few more days" before "[we] must go".  Placing it further in perspective, when we do go, we will "meet the deeds...[we] have done" in a place where, as we are promised, "there will be no setting sun," an allusion to two things John wrote about in Revelation: 1) what was said by the voice he heard in Revelation 14:13: "'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' 'Blessed indeed,' says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!'" and 2) the fact that "the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there (Rev 21:23-25)."  Definitely something to look forward to.

As always, I welcome any additional thoughts…

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