Simply Follow the Leader

            I don’t know about you, but I used to (and still sometimes do), feel as if following Christ is complicated.

             We have to remember to do so many things: read and study the Word, memorize the Word, be good, love God, love neighbor, become like Christ, be a living sacrifice, and so much more, but there’s one problem with this thought.

            We can’t do any of this on our own, nor are we called to become like Christ on our own. Also, when we understand grace fully, the have to disappears because we desperately want to seek God with all of our hearts and learn and pray. He puts the desire inside us.

            This past Sunday, a speaker made me realize a truth that I had never fully known before. God commands us to simply follow Him, and He does the rest.

            Peter and Andrew, Jesus’ first two disciples, were once fishermen. They were professionals. I bet they could sing and the fish would come to them (maybe not, but you get the point). Peter and Andrew knew everything there was to know about catching fish. Casting nets was their life, and one day, a man named Jesus told them to follow Him and become fishers of men instead (ESV, Matt. 4:18-20).

            Let’s look at what Jesus said to them specifically: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19).

            Jesus didn’t tell Peter and Andrew that they had to learn how to love Him by themselves or interpret scripture on their own without Him. He didn’t tell them that they had to renew their minds or make themselves like Christ, and He certainly didn’t say they had to make anything of themselves.

            They were simply called to follow. Jesus does the rest. He is the potter; we just have to be willing clumps of clay.

            Remember the game Follow the Leader? Everyone would walk behind the leader while mimicking everything the leader did. The followers looked to the leader to know how to act, sound, look, or move. 

            They didn’t make up what to do; they relied on the leader to make them flawless followers.

            The next time you feel overwhelmed, remember that God has called you to follow Him. He shows you what to do.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas