{"id":2876,"date":"2020-09-03T10:47:17","date_gmt":"2020-09-03T16:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theclarion.org\/?p=2876"},"modified":"2020-09-03T10:47:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T16:47:17","slug":"thoughts-from-the-bible-09-02-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/?p=2876","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts from The Bible: – 09\/02\/20"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow Thou Me<\/strong>
\nby Terry Broome<\/em><\/p>\n

Children are so precious, and so open about their feelings. You never have to wonder how they feel about a thing. Their faces and their questions tell all; and in some cases, children stay children for a very long time. For instance, Johnnie and Suzie were busy playing their favorite game when Mother interrupted them to remind Johnnie that it was his turn to wash the supper dishes. His face contorted in pain, and his voice almost screamed his disgust as he cried, \u201cAh, Mom, what about Suzie? Why do I always have to be the one?\u201d Well, you can just imagine Mom\u2019s answer: \u201cNever mind about Suzie! You do as I say or else I\u2019ll\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The odd thing is that Johnnie and Suzie could pretty well be any age, and one could still expect the same reaction! In some ways, even adults are pronged to whine, \u201cBut what about them?\u201d
\nSoon after our Lord was resurrected, Peter and the rest of the apostles went fishing (as recorded in John 21). Jesus took advantage of this day and this setting to spend some valuable time with them before going back to Heaven.
\nAfter building a fire and feasting on the fish the Lord had prepared, Jesus quizzed Simon Peter three times, \u201clovest thou me?\u201d Peter began to see that genuine love for the master involved service as he was told all three times: \u201cFeed my lambs (sheep).\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the Lord laid down a startling measure of service for which Peter wasn\u2019t ready to commit just yet. It was a picture of total commitment (John 21: 18-19). Peter would eventually die for the faith! Much like the story of the Hen and the Pig where the hen suggested they cheer the farmer up with a great breakfast. The hen proposed, \u201cI\u2019ll provide the eggs, you provide the ham, and we\u2019ll prepare a great breakfast for him.\u201d The pig saw a flaw in the plan and replied, \u201cIt seems to me that you\u2019re willing to make a sacrifice for the farmer, but you\u2019re asking me to make a total commitment!!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lord wasn\u2019t just asking Peter to serve \u2013 to sacrifice \u2013 but to make a total commitment!! Peter was so human one could almost predict how he would react (21:20-21) \u201cThen Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following . . . Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t you just picture this? Peter has his own private conversation with Jesus, but when he finds out how difficult \u201cservice\u201d really is, and what a price he\u2019ll have to pay, he wants to know: \u201cWhat about Him?\u201d He could just as well have said, \u201cWhy Me Lord?\u201d or \u201cIt isn\u2019t fair!\u201d The chilling answer in verse 22 reminds us all that there comes a time when we must step forward and answer the call to follow Jesus and quit worrying about what the other fellow is going to do! \u201cJesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow THOU me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The call to follow Jesus is a call to be willing to pay the ultimate price EVEN IF NO ONE ELSE DOES! So far, we\u2019ve not been called upon to pay that price, but many in other countries have given their lives for their faith. How about you? Are you willing to give your life for the Master? Then, are you willing to live your life for the Master?
\nThe author can be reached for comments at 256-574-2489.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow Thou Me by Terry Broome Children are so precious, and so open about their feelings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2877,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2876\/revisions\/2877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}