“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9).
Before Sir Earnest Shackleton sailed for the Antarctic in 1914, he put a small advertisement in a London paper which read as follows: “WANTED: men to go on an Antarctic expedition. Small wages. Bitter cold. Safe return doubtful.” What happened? More than 5000 men responded, all of whom were willing to lay their lives on the line. The little ship that bore the men on that fated journey was named The Endurance from Shackleton’s family motto: “By endurance we conquer!”
The saga of his journey, including the crushing of the ship by the ice, the long journey across the frozen wasteland in two small whaling boats, the voyage of Shackleton to Elephant Island and his trek across the never-before-crossed mountains to the whaling station, is one of the great adventure stories of all times, but going back to the ad, ponder the words: “WANTED: men to go on an Antarctic expedition. Small wages. Bitter cold. Safe return doubtful.” If you read such an ad in your local newspaper, would you respond? Or would you prefer to take the path to the rocking chair or the beach, free of cold, snow, ice, challenges, and yes, certainly danger?
As I learned of the ad that Shackleton placed in a paper, I thought of the words of Ezekiel, the young man who stood very much alone in Babylon long ago. Ezekiel recorded a plea that God had made. He recorded it, that’s it. Ponder these words. God said, “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none” (Ezekiel 22:30).
Whoa! Is there none who is willing to take God’s challenge? It is certain that the same kind of challenge resounded in the recruitment of Jesus’ disciples. When He was here, he confronted men saying, “Follow me!” And as they followed, He added, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23-24).
Are there still those who will take the challenge? Indeed. Bill Bright took the challenge. As a young man on the campus of UCLA in the 1950s, Bright was challenged by Henrietta Mears to give his life completely and totally to Jesus Christ. Bright explains what happened, saying, “I made a contract with God. I literally wrote it out and signed my name at the bottom. It said, ‘From this day forward, I am a slave of Jesus Christ.’“ There was no turning back. His desire to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ led to the formation of Campus Crusade for Christ, and through the army of men and women who have become part of this movement, more than 4 billion people have been exposed to the Good News, resulting in over 150 million people who have registered their decision to follow Jesus Christ.
Have you signed a contract with God like that? Or are you afraid that if you dared to step out and walk with Him, God might ask you to do something you don’t want to do? Or you think you’ll have to give up something—something you want to hold onto like a child does a dirty blanket?
The men who followed Shackleton were tough, committed, and believed in his ability to bring them back safely–something which he did, reflecting his integrity, skill, and leadership. To his great credit, not a single life was lost in that heroic endeavor. But a greater than Shackleton still says, “Follow me and I will make you to be fishers of men!” It’s up to you to respond.
Resource reading: John 1:43-51
