Following the One

 “’Come, follow me,’ Jesus said...” Matthew 4:19

This morning as I was listening to a song about following Jesus, an image popped into my head. It was my dad up in front of me walking faster than I walked as a little girl. My 10 little steps probably made up 2 of his long strides. I can still remember asking a million times where were we going only for him to look over his shoulder telling me to just follow him. Whether it was in a store or a parking lot, I knew one thing...although I didn’t know where I was going, he certainly did.

Even as I grew into a teenager, there were times when he wanted me to follow him in the car. If for some reason we got separated, I knew that somewhere up ahead on the side of the road he would be pulled over watching for me. What a comfort and confidence I had in him whenever I followed.

A rush of fresh awareness and gratitude washed over me this morning as God used my father to remind me of this simple but easy-to-forget reminder. As we walk out our circumstances, we must keep in step with Jesus up ahead. We must lift our prayers asking Him, ‘Where are we going?’ Most importantly, we must wait and watch for Him to glance over His shoulder and remind us, ‘Come, just follow me.’

So many of us find ourselves waiting on something to happen in our circumstances ...the healing of a physical condition...the callback from a job interview...the reconciliation of a broken relationship...a mended heart from losing a loved one. In order to follow anyone, we must keep moving...we must keep the One we trust in our sights...we must listen for His direction and encouragement. The only way to leave a place is to move to the next one, and God did not leave us on our own to get there. Through Christ, we can follow Him and trust that if we keep moving forward, so will He. Otherwise, we just may lose Him in the crowd.

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere” 2 Co 2:14.