Follow me

So many times Jesus said “follow me”…”come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”…(Matthew 4:19). “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also my servant will be. The Father will honor whoever serves me”. (John 12:26).

Of course we are called to follow Him. We follow in His footsteps, we follow that path He ordains for us. Sometimes we stumble. Sometimes we falter and fall. But He seeks us out like the shepherd does with his lost lambs. In our hearts, we recognize His greatness and we want to serve. How do we serve Him? He told us. Love and serve Him and our neighbors. Seems simple yet impossible. We are pulled in so very many directions. Yet in our small and simple ways, we can serve.

What does it mean to follow, though? Do you remember playing Follow the Leader when you were a child? One person got to lead, and everyone else would follow behind the leader, in a single row. Generally the leader would do various things that were difficult and unpredictable. His/her goal was to get to remain the leader. That could only happen if He defeated everyone through their failures. But that is not how Jesus works. We try to emulate Him. Sometimes we fail, He lifts us up and helps us get back on track. He is not “secretly hoping for our failure”. Our hearts are meshed with His.

Now, when I think of the phrase Follow Me, I often think of a John Denver song by that title. I am going to put some of the lyrics here. I think some of John Denver’s lyrics fit nicely with the theme of Jesus asking us to follow Him. What do you think?

“Follow me where I go, what I do and who I know, make it part of you to be a part of me.
Follow me up and down, all the way and all around, take my hand and say you’ll follow me.” Let’s each try to follow Him closely today…see that path? He’s just around the bend; He is waiting for you!