Climbing Backwards

Every day, as I run around my neighborhood, there are two small hills that are part of my circuit. Running uphill is a great workout for your heart, but running backwards up a hill is good for your glutes and your heart. So, when I get to the bottom of these hills, I turn around and jog backwards. Yes, my neighbors think I’m strange!

Recently I was reminded of the following lyrics from an old hymn:

“I have decided to follow Jesus…The world behind me, the cross before me—no turning back, no turning back.”

I think I may be running backwards up to the cross—because I still have my eyes on earthly things, although I’m moving toward Jesus. This is not good. I’m always turning back. I want to leave the world behind me, yet I can’t. I want to face the cross, yet I dare not.

As I was looking up the lyrics and the author of this song, I came across the following information:

"I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" is a Christian hymn originating from India. The lyrics are based on the last words of a man in Assam, north-east India, who along with his family was converted to Christianity in the middle of the 19th century through the efforts of a Welsh missionary. Called to renounce his faith by the village chief, the convert declared, "I have decided to follow Jesus." In response to threats to his family, he continued, "Though no one joins me, still I will follow." His wife was killed, and he was executed while singing, "The cross before me, the world behind me." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_Decided_to_Follow_Jesus

 

This puts things in perspective. These lyrics were written by a martyr—a man who had to turn his back on his spouse, his community, and literally die to follow Jesus. Whatever I have relinquished thus far, it doesn’t even come close.