Would I have answered when you called,
Come, follow, follow me!""?
Would I at once have left behind
both work and family?
Or would the old, familiar round
have held me By its claim
and kept the spark within my heart
From bursting into flame?

Would I have followed where you led
through ancient Galilee,
On roads unknown, by ways untried,
beyond security?
Or would I soon have hurried back
where home and comfort drew,
Where truth you taught would not disturb
The ordered world I knew?

Would I have matched my step with yours
when crowds cried, ""Crucify!""
When on a rocky hill I saw
a cross against the sky?
Or would I too have slipped away
and left you there alone,
A dying king with crown of thorns
upon a terrible throne?

O Christ, I cannot search my heart
through all its tangled ways,
Nor can I with a certain mind
my steadfastness appraise.
I only pray that when you call,
""Come, follow, follow me!""
You'll give me strength beyond
my own to follow faithfully.