Jesus says: ‘Whoever serves me must follow me.’ What does it mean to me, to follow Jesus? read more...

To follow someone, I must know them well and admire them. And I suppose I would need to believe that I would be welcome company for them. We might not always agree, but we would have standards in common. But the choice ‘to follow’ is mine, and it arises every day. Sometimes I remember that I am meant to be following Jesus, and other times I forget.  I can walk for miles with ideas in my head, but with no thought of ‘following Jesus’. I can stray from the way he chooses.
Then there are times when I do want to follow him, but don’t know what best to do. I see injustice in the organisation where I work. I wonder if I should say nothing lest I make things worse, or should I try to change things? Or should I simply walk away? In a dysfunctional relationship, should I stay on and fight, even if there seems to be no hope that it will mend?
I make my own the Serenity Prayer.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
(Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892-1971).