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

Out of Tune Clanging Cymbals

            "The people in the crowd rise to their feet as the first notes of the National Anthem ring across the stadium. Everyone opens his mouth to sing along, but a sound similar to nails scratching down a chalkboard permeates through the crowd causing the people to plug their ears in desperation to stop the noise. The vocalist keeps belting out lyrics of freedom, but the only thing the crowd wants is a power outage to silence this butchering of the National Anthem. The message of the lyrics is sweet, but the out of tune notes misconstrue the message."

            Most of us can relate to this make-believe scenario described above. The National Anthem (along with other beautiful songs) has been sung over and over and many times, terribly messed up by the band or vocalist. When this has happened to me, I’ve felt embarrassed for the performer, and I’ve wanted to stop hearing the song immediately. If it was a song I’d never heard before, I simply stopped listening to it, never to find out if the message was worthwhile.

            1 Corinthians 13:1-3 sums it up well, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing” (NIV).

My dear brothers and sisters, please speak in love. We have enough people yelling in this world. As followers of Christ, we have the most beautiful, love filled, and important message for the entire world, but they will never hear it if we argue and fight with them. Jesus was able to love the sinners (while never supporting their sins), and that love changed their lives. We can love them, too. Love those who do not know Christ, and through that love they will know that we are His disciples and maybe, thirst for the same Living Water (John 4:10 & 13:34-35).

We can proclaim the truth from the mountain tops, go on a million mission trips, memorize the Bible, pray 24/7, and everything else, but if we have not love, we’re just like the out of tune singer and band playing the national anthem.

But if we have love, we’ll be like the first rain after a drought—soothing and refreshing, a much desired necessity. 

Living Life Together, 

Rebecca Thomas