“He saith unto him, follow Me”.
(John 21:19)
Is it so that you have much meditated on the contents of these words: “Follow Me”? What would we be able to tell each other about this? Only a very little, I am afraid.
Do you know what the “remnant according to the election of grace” is lacking a lot in our time? This: “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31), and: “For we which live are alway delivered unto death” (2 Cor. 4:11). This is then also the reason why not many mysteries of God are perceived by us. This lies at the root of the poverty of our lives. The Church of Christ is so poor in these times! This is the cause of it.
Follow the Lord. Try to find out what the Lord wants from you! For you cannot follow the Lord, as long as this is not known to you. You must try to find out what the Lord wants from you.
How do we live? After our own pleasure and lust. We select a profession. We start a business. We enter into a marriage. We do this and that with our children, etcetera, etcetera. Be honest, have you not kept God out of everything until this moment? See, that is not following the Lord.
We must have the intention to try to find out what it is to which God calls us. There is a profession, a business... It is already great if a man asks: “May I accept this profession?” or: “May I have this business?” But there must be more, namely: “Wilt Thou, that I have this profession?” or: “Wilt Thou, that I start this business? Etcetera. That would be following the Lord.
We are confronted with life every day; that is to say, the things of life are daily standing before us, prosperity and misfortune, pleasant and unpleasant matters. And now we are called to investigate where we stand in regard to these matters. If we omit to do this, we will be overtaken by life. We will be found missing the answer to the questions life confronts us with.
Where do we stand with respect to the things of life in front of us? Look, this should be the work of a blessed man! What a treasure would then be obtained by him, a treasure of wisdom, resulting from spiritual knowledge. And how often might he then be enabled to render an excellent service to his neighbour.
(From: Meditations, 20 February. Sermon on John 1:29, 23 March 1951 in The Hague.)