The Story Behind the Song “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”

A hymn that I have heard innumerable times like many Christians and have memorized the lyrics very well as a kid and understood its meaning as a teen but actually understood the in-depth meaning of each word when I went through various life-experiences; it’s a shame that I learnt the story behind this meaningful  lyrics just recently!!

This is an Indian-origin song! (I didn’t know that!) from Meghalaya, then known as Assam.

         This story is from the book Why God, Why? by Dr. Peramangalam Job.  Dr. Job (1945-2012) was an internationally known evangelist.  He has been called the “Billy Graham of India.” 

    About 150 years ago, there was a great revival in Wales, England.  As a result of this, many missionaries came from England to northeast India to spread the Gospel.  The region was known as Assam and comprised hundreds of tribes.  The tribal communities were quite primitive and aggressive.  The tribesmen were also called head-hunters because of a social custom which required the male members of the community to collect as many heads as possible.  A man’s strength and ability to protect his wife was assessed by the number of heads he had collected.  Therefore, a youth of marriageable age would try and collect as many heads as possible and hang them on the walls of his house.  The more heads a man had, the more eligible he was considered.  Into this hostile and aggressive community, came a group of Welsh missionaries spreading the message of love, peace, and hope of Jesus Christ.

       Naturally, they were not welcomed.  One Welsh missionary finally succeeded in converting a man, his wife, and two children.  This man’s faith proved contagious and many villagers began to accept Christianity.  Angry, the village chief summoned all the villagers.  He then called the family who had first converted to renounce their faith in public or face execution.  Moved by the Holy Spirit, the man sung his reply, “I have decided to follow Jesus.  No turning back.”

     Enraged at the refusal of the man, the chief ordered his archers to arrow down the two children.  As both boys lay twitching on the floor, the chief asked, “Will you deny your faith?  You have lost both your children.  You will lose your wife too.”

     But the man replied, again singing, “Though none go with me, still I will follow.  No turning back.”

     The chief was beside himself with fury and ordered his wife to be arrowed down.  In a moment she joined her two children in death.  Now he asked for the last time, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.”

     In the face of death the man sung, “The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back.  No turning back.”

     He was shot dead like the rest of his family. But with their deaths, a miracle took place.  The chief who had ordered the killings was moved by the faith of the man.  He wondered, “Why should this man, his wife and two children die for a Man who lived in a far-away land on another continent some 2,000 years ago?  There must be some supernatural power behind the family, and I too want that supernatural power.”

     In a spontaneous confession of faith, he declared, “I too belong to Jesus Christ!”  When the crowd heard this from the mouth of their chief, the whole village accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior!! 

Knowing “The story” behind  these lyrics takes the song to a whole new level of understanding and shows us the power of God. Only God can change any hardened- heart but more importantly, once you experience his unconditional  love, mercy, grace, kindness; You cannot turn back!

It took a man and his family’s life to bring a whole village to Christ! He was killed because he stood for the right thing but their deaths gave rise to a miracle, the entire village,including the one who gave the orders to kill him, accepted Christ!

We might not understand but God sees the bigger picture and acts accordingly!!

And even today Meghalaya is known as a Christian state with sizeable Christian majority.

The Indian missionary Sadhu Sundar Singh took the martyr’s last words and put them to traditional Indian music  to make one of the first uniquely Indian hymns.

The song immediately became popular in Indian churches, and it remains a worship music to this day.

Finally, it ended up with a Canadian song writer George Beverley Shea, and he made it a staple at the Billy Graham crusades.

I have decided to follow Jesus(3x)

No turning back,No turning back

Though none go with me, still I will follow (3x)

No turning back, no turning back

The world behind me, the cross before me (3x)

No turning back, no turning back.

—