Come Follow Me
Elder Norm Masters    Full Time Missionary   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 

In the hymn book of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a hymn entitled, “Come Follow Me”.  This hymn has six verses that encourage us to follow Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.  The first verse reads:

"Come, follow me," the Savior said.

Then let us in his footsteps tread,

For thus alone can we be one

With God's own loved, begotten Son.

As Jesus was beginning his earthly ministry, he called on ordinary men to come and follow him, to become “fishers of men”.  It is certain that they had no idea of what all that this meant, and how their lives and the lives of so many others they met would be affected by this simple phrase.  Little could they imagine that people’s lives in the year 2014 are still being affected by Christ’s offer to make these ordinary men into “fishers of men”.

Along the way, these men experienced profound teachings, witnessed miracles, such as making the blind to see, healing the sick, curing lepers, raising the dead and many other amazing things.  Imagine what must have been their astonishment at having accepted Jesus’ invitation to become “fishers of men”.

Surely they never imagined they would be taught about the blessings of eternal life, where ordinary men, women and children can return to, and live with our Heavenly Father.  The Savior taught his apostles that ordinary people could receive this blessing by being clean and pure as a little child, by following God’s commandments, and by not being worldly with their possessions. See Mark 10:14-30.  In Matthew 16:21-28 (KJV), Jesus taught that man should (v24) …“take up his cross and follow me” and (v27)…”and then he shall reward everyman according to his works”.  See biblevideos.org   click on ‘View All’ and then scroll down to-, and click on: ‘Whosoever Will Lose His Life for My Sake Shall Find It’.

Jesus Christ was perfect because He did EVERYTHING His Father wanted Him to do.  Of course, none of us are perfect, as was Jesus, so we must be diligent in following His example.  Jesus suffered and died for our sins through the Atonement, a free gift to us if we will but follow the Savior AND sincerely repent of our sins. These are simple, but challenging requirements for gaining eternal salvation. May we do our very best to follow the Savior’s admonishment to “Come Follow Me”.

Upper Country News Reporter   Cambridge, Idaho   November 2014