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ND he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26)
We scarcely contemplate the Road which Jesus trod in consideration of the fact that, in following Him, we must experience the same rejection and persecution. It is a road of great joy that overwhelms the temptations of the world.
Following Those Prints
Once on a day of Joyful Beauty and air pristine
I happened on the trail, at Jordan's Banks, where our Lord had trod,
And saw there in the stony edge agleam
The footprints of his nail-pierced feet upon the sod.
Along the shore of Galilee's coast
A fishing boat with sides weathered by the tempest's blast
Lay anchored now in quiet repose
Silent witness to the Stormy past.
Onward down the River Valley green
The Footprints led to Bethany
And on the way an opened Tomb
Whose owner rose as beckoned lovingly.
On across the western plains to Sychar's well
That Jacob dug for all to quench a thirst
The prints paused briefly for a Woman Lost
Mixed there with others who came as did the first.
Quite steady on the prints led to the Temple Mount
Where tables, overturned in fury hot,
At which the money changers made their count
And fled the Master's blistering reproach of all their lot.
Straight on the steps led through the narrow Way
To Pilate's seat foreboding, proud and dark,
Past judgment seat where Peter thrice on that last Day
Denied his love for Christ and missed the mark.
Now haltingly they merge on Dolorosa's rocky lane
Where Jesus bore His heavy cross alone
Up Calvary's granite slopes of Crimson Stain
Where last He bled and for our sin atoned.
From out the tomb in Garden fair and sweet
The prints led on to Glory high and Great
And up beyond the heavens pearl-decked gates
He now commands the hearts of all of Faith.
Jerry L. Ogles ©2009
If your road is a road of smooth travel and free of potholes, perhaps you are on the road of the world and not that of the Lord.
