Jesus’ Way – Our Way

God lives and works today. He calls us to be His disciples and to follow Him on the way to eternal life. It is a glorious way, but it is not without struggles and certain risks.

Today's meditation by Basilea Schlink tells about one man who dared to go this way, Jesus' way. Jesus Christ and His way cannot be separated from each other. For Jesus says in John 14 6, I am the way.

If our faith doesn't lead us along Jesus' way, it's a dead faith, according to the New Testament. But if we place our feet in Jesus' footsteps, we will soon discover it's a blessed way, which brings us into close fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the love of all loves, the bright sun of joy, the most precious treasure in heaven and on earth. Then our hearts can only rejoice.

One man who really dared to set his foot upon the way of Jesus was John Towler. He was a well-respected and very popular preacher in Germany during the Middle Ages. One day a man from Switzerland was inspired by the Lord to go to him and to tell him that he should withdraw into solitude for two years.

God wanted him, for a while, to stop his inspired preaching, which had put him in the center of attention so much. He was to especially spend time praying that he would become humble and lowly. Towler realized that it was now a matter of setting his foot on Jesus' path in a very real way, by going into solitude.

When he returned to his church after two years and stepped into the pulpit, he couldn't speak a single word. Yes, he began to cry and had to leave the pulpit without giving his sermon. The people who had come in large numbers to hear him were indignant.

Therefore, the church officials prohibited him ever to preach again. Towler was suddenly despised by everyone. But he didn't have any doubts in his heart that this was his way.

Rather, he said to himself, Jesus was despised. Therefore, it's only proper for me not to continue to be popular and respected. I belong on Jesus' way.

But then, one Sunday it happened that his church officials were in an embarrassing situation. They had no one to preach. For better or worse, they had to call in Towler and ask him to take the pulpit once more.

What happened this time? The words simply flowed. Yes, Towler spoke with more authority than he had ever spoken before in his whole life. Great transformations occurred in the hearts of his listeners.

Perhaps this story about Towler shocks us, but we must ask ourselves, would we be prepared to do something similar if Jesus wanted us to? Would we be prepared to give up our popularity, our reputation, our honor for Jesus' sake? Jesus' way is not a way of superficial enjoyment. It's characterized by giving up and losing, by disappointment and lack of success. And yet, it's blessed, for blessed are those who go Jesus' way.

Nowhere can we come closer to Jesus than along his own way. You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan. To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. That's K-A-N-A-A-N dot org.

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