“When Jesus Christ says ‘Follow Me,’ He never says to where; the consequences must be left entirely to Him. We come in with our ‘buts,’ and ‘supposings,’ and ‘what will happen if I do?’ (cf. Luke 9:5762). We have nothing to do with what will happen if we obey; we have to abandon to God’s call in unconditional surrender and smilingly wash our hands of the consequences” (Oswald Chambers, Not Knowing Whither).

It’s interesting that whenever Jesus calls people in the gospels, He essentially does three things: 1) He meets them where they are and loves them there, 2) He calls them out of where they are, and 3) He calls them to follow Him.

Not one of the people Jesus called in His lifetime had any idea of where it would lead them. For many of them, it meant suffering as well as joy. For 11 out of the 12 original disciples, it mean dying as martyrs for the faith. For every single one of them, it meant denying themselves and taking up their crosses.

Following Jesus isn’t easy. In fact, it’s impossible without the calling. It’s impossible without the indwelling Holy Spirit enabling you to follow. Our default setting is to seek our own ways and wishes and do what makes us happy, not following after Jesus.

But following Jesus is its own reward. It’s simply a better way to live because it’s how God originally designed us to live. The best part, even better than living forever, is being near to Jesus. I can’t imagine what it was like for those disciples to be able to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His words, to see Him in action healing the sick and raising the dead. To see Him rebuking those religious leaders who were more interested in looking good than in doing good. To see Him loving those no one else saw or wanted.

Jesus said that if we followed Him, we’d see and do even bigger things than He did. I think that means that all around the world, followers of Jesus get to see hundreds and thousands of lives transformed, all those who were dead coming alive, all those who were strangers and aliens and hostile to God turning into a family with God as their Father. Those who were enemies coming together as one body with Jesus as their head. Following Jesus changes everything.

“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading” (Oswald Chambers).