d is in need. The world's condition spells out the desperateness
of that need. The world's need is His need. It is His world. This world is
God's prodigal son. It is the passion of our Lord Jesus' heart to win His
world back, and save it. That passion has been revealed most, thus far, in
His going to the great extreme of dying. That passion is still
unsatisfied. Yonder He sits, with scarred face and form, _expecting_.[96]
Bending eagerly forward with longing eyes He is expecting. He is
expectantly waiting our response, expectantly waiting the day when things
will have ripened on the earth for the next step in the great plan.

And down from the throne comes the same eager cry He used when amongst us
on earth, "Follow Me." This is the one call, with many variations, that
runs through the seven-fold message to His followers in the book of the
Revelation.[97]

But He calls for real followers. He needs Calebs, who are willing, if
need be, to face a whole nation dead-bent on going the other way, and yet
who never flinch but insist on following fully. Caleb's following was so
unflinching, so against the current of his whole time, that it stands out
with the peculiar emphasis of a six-fold mention.[98]

Those who follow "wholly" seem scarce sometimes. I was struck recently
with an utterance by a man prominent in business circles and in Christian
activity for years. He was speaking of how he had been active in a certain
form of Christian activity, and declared that it had never occasioned him
any loss, or been a detriment to him in his business. The words had a
strange, suspicious sound. The Master told those who would follow fully
that they might expect much loss and detriment.

The Master was very careful to give the "if's" a prominent place. "If any
man would come after Me."[99] "If any man would serve Me let him follow
Me."[100] Those "if's" are the cautionary signals. They mean obstacles
needing to be considered before one decides. We must determine whether we
will take them away or not. Half-way following, part-way following, has
become very common in some of the other parts of the world, where we don't
live. I'll leave you to judge how it is in your own neighbourhood.

I have seen people start down this "Follow Me" road with great enthusiasm
and real earnestness, singing as they go. Then the road begins to narrow a
bit. The thorn bushes on the side have grown so thick and rank that they
push over the sides of the road,