, that you say
in your heart, "Though all men should forsake Thee, yet will not I"? It
is difficult to resist the current of thought and opinion that prevails
around us; difficult to dispute or even question the opinion of men who
have been our teachers, and who have first awakened our mind to see the
majesty of truth and the beauty of the universe; it is difficult to
choose our own way, and thus tacitly condemn the choice and the way of
men we know to be purer in life, and in every essential respect better
than ourselves. And yet, perhaps, it is well that we are thus compelled
to make up our own mind, to examine the claims of Christ for ourselves,
and so follow Him with the resolution that comes of personal conviction.
It is this our Lord desires. He does not compel nor hasten our decision.
He does not upbraid His followers for their serious misunderstandings of
His person. He allows them to be familiar with Him even while labouring
under many misconceptions, because He knows that these misconceptions
will most surely pass away in His society and by further acquaintance
with Him. One thing He insists upon, one thing He asks from us--that we
follow Him. We may only have a vague impression that He is quite
different from all else we know; we may be doubtful, as yet, in what
sense some of the highest titles are ascribed to Him; we may be quite
mistaken about the significance of certain important parts of His life;
we may disagree among ourselves regarding the nature of His kingdom and
regarding the conditions of entrance into it; but, if we follow Him, if
we join our fortunes to His, and wish nothing better than to be within
the sound of His voice and to do His bidding; if we truly love Him, and
find that He has taken a place in our life we cannot ever give to
another; if we are conscious that our future lies His way, and that we
must in heart abide with Him, then all our slowness to understand is
patiently dealt with, all our underrating of His real dignity is
forgiven us, and we are led on in His company to perfect conformity,
perfect union, and perfect knowledge.

All that He desires, then, is, in the first place, not something we
cannot give, not a belief in certain truths about which doubt may
reasonably be entertained, not an acknowledgment of facts that are as
yet beyond our vision; but, that we follow Him, that we be in this world
as He was in it. Shall we, then, let Him pursue His way alone, shall we
do nothing t