Following Christ!

"If anyone would come after Me--he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me!" Luke 9:23

O that Christians, the very best of them, were not so slack in following Christ!

Some stop to trifle with the perishable things of earth.

Some stop to pick up the gaudy, scentless flowers by the wayside.

Some stop to sleep, forgetting that this is not our rest--it is cursed ground.

Some stop to pick holes and find fault with their fellow-travelers.

Few of Christ's sheep hold on their way as steadily as they might. But still, compared with the world--they are following Jesus Christ. Oh that they would only remember, that those who follow Him most fully--shall follow Him most comfortably!

They are following Christ, and they know where they are going. And even in the dark river, in the valley of the shadow of death--they feel a confidence that their Shepherd will be with them, and that His rod and His staff will comfort them. They would all tell you that they are poor wandering sheep, ashamed of the little fruit they bear. But still, as weak as they are, they are determined to follow on to the end, and to say, "None but Christ--in life and in death, in time and in eternity!"
"Leaving you an example--so that you should follow in His steps!" 1 Peter 2:21

 -J.C. Ryle -