There are a lot of jokes about New Year’s resolutions. Here are a few of my favorites:

“A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.”

“May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.”

“The year 2020 is going to be filled with so many puns about perfect vision. I can’t wait to see them all.”

On a more serious note, instead of making a New Year’s resolution this year, I am publicly renewing a resolution I made over 55 years ago. I was just a young boy at the time, and I had been invited to attend a Christian youth rally. It was there, for the first time, I understood that I was a sinner and that faith in Jesus was my only hope of eternal life. Not long after, I remember lying awake in bed and thinking about my need for Jesus Christ. I made a decision to follow Jesus that night. I slipped out of bed, knelt there, and gave my life to Christ.

That is a decision I have never regretted. I have often failed in the way I followed Jesus, but I have never wanted to turn away from my Lord and Savior. As I have often said, “Following Jesus can be really hard at times, but it still beats any other alternative.”

That reminds me of an old Christian hymn we used to sing: “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” The story behind that song will grip your heart.

In the late 1800s, a Christian revival swept the country of Wales. As a result, many of the new believers became missionaries. Hundreds of them traveled to Northern India in order to share the good news about Jesus Christ. One of those missionaries was led to an area that was particularly hostile to Christianity. After spending many months proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ, finally, one man, his wife, and two children decided to follow Jesus.

That decision angered the tribal chief, so he decided to make an example of them. He summoned the villagers to a meeting and put the new Christian family in front of him. The chief challenged the man to renounce his faith or face death. The new convert boldly said, “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back.” Furious, the chief ordered his archers to kill the man’s two sons.

As those boys lay dying in front of everyone, the chief asked, “Will you now deny your faith? You have lost both your children. If not, you will lose your wife too.” The man responded by saying, “Though no one joins me, still I will follow. No turning back, no turning back.” The chief then ordered that his wife be executed, too. She soon lay dead next to her two lifeless boys.

Beside himself with anger, the chief thundered, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.” The man stood tall and said, “The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back, no turning back.” He was then shot to death as well.

That tragedy birthed a miracle.

The tribal chief struggled to understand why these new Christians would be willing to die for a Man who lived so long ago in a land that was far away. Soon afterward, he decided that he wanted that kind of faith for himself, so he also became a follower of Jesus Christ. That sparked another revival and hundreds of Indians came to Christ as their Savior.

It is said that an Indian pastor, Sadhu Sundar Singh, composed the words of that martyred Christian into a poem. It was soon set to music and called “Assam” after the region in India where the Christian family was murdered.

Later an American hymn writer, William Jensen Reynolds, wrote a tune for that poem. It was sung regularly by George Beverly Shea during Billy Graham’s evangelistic meetings in America and around the world.

American Christians may never be threatened like that Christian man in India. That is a blessing, but we still have to decide how much Jesus is worth to us. Will we follow Him no matter what it may cost us?

There is a cost to everyone who follows Jesus Christ (see Luke 14:27-33). Our cost in following Him, though, is nothing compared to what it cost Jesus to set us free from our sin. That is why the throne room of God rings with these words, “Worthy is [Jesus Christ] the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (Revelation 5:12).

If you believe that Jesus is worthy of all our worship, then you too can sing with me:

I have decided to follow Jesus;

I have decided to follow Jesus;

I have decided to follow Jesus;

No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, still I will follow;

Though none go with me, still I will follow;

Though none go with me, still I will follow;

No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me;

The world behind me, the cross before me,

The world behind me, the cross before me;

No turning back, no turning back.

 

That is my New Year’s resolution. It is yours?