Do you remember as a child playing the game “follow the leader”? In that specific game, there was a leader and the rest of us followed him/her around doing exactly what the leader did. If they raise their right hand then those following were to raise their right hand, etc. Sometimes it was easy and fun and other times it was more difficult depending on who was the leader. Some kids would try to make it harder and we’d laugh when we couldn’t follow correctly. Other leaders were easy to follow and just made it fun. Whether the directions were easy or hard our success was the direct result of how closely we watched the leader.

This is true when it came to being a follower of Jesus Christ. The more we keep our focus on Him the easier it is to obey His Word. It is that simple. On the other hand, if we are not being diligent to know Him through His Word – the Bible – then we make it more difficult for ourselves. Notice, I said, “ourselves”. All of us have had some not-so-good-situations in our lives that could have been avoided if only we had been doing what God said to do instead of our own thing. Remembering those times might make us cringe, but hopefully we learned by our mistakes and are a better follower of Jesus today.

The Scripture that I’ve been meditating on is Mathew 4:19 where Jesus is calling His Disciples and says, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. Jesus asks us to follow Him in such a way that others see Him in us. He loved people enough to die for us to set of free from the power of sin. (John 3:16) Now we don’t have to die for others as He did; but we are to lead them to Him to receive the Salvation He provided. Acts 10:38 tells us that He went about doing good; healing all who were oppressed by the devil. We are to be kind to one another and pray for the sick that they will recover. (Ephesians 4:32, Mathew 10:1) Believers today are Jesus’ Disciples, so we are to pray for the sick and see them recover. He even helped them financially when they needed to pay their taxes! (Matthew 17:24-27)  Jesus prayed for His disciples then, and He still prays and intercedes for us today (John 17:20, Hebrews 7:25). We are to pray for one another too (First Timothy 2:1-4).

He left us direct instructions to occupy until He comes again (Luke 19:13). To occupy means to reside and to take hold of possession of an area. We are to reside in this world and live according to God’s Word and possess it for Him, spreading the Good News that God is love (1 John 4:8). The idea of following a person is coming after them or perhaps along side of them, keeping our focus on them in order to imitate and act like them.

I mentioned earlier of the two kinds of leaders; Jesus is a good leader. He is always for us and never against us. He makes following Him desirable and beneficial but also fun. He tells us in Matthew 11:30 that his yolk is easy and his burden is light. A yoke is a means of being fitted together to carry a load. In this case our willingness and obedience to serve and live for Jesus, and His anointing to help us complete what He has called us to do. Most often when we think of the word burden, we think of hardship and oppression; but another definition is care and responsibility.  We are care about others and take responsibility for our walk in order to be a living testimony that will help draw them to Christ. God wants to reveal Himself through us.

We are all followers and leaders. We follow those who teach us and we lead and teach those who in turn are following us; and ultimately ALL are to follow Jesus our Lord. My prayer for you this week is that you continue to learn and draw near to God; spending time with Him to discover the leadership role(s) He wants you to be responsible for in His Kingdom and take His Gospel to the world. Jesus is Lord; follow Him.