Follow Me

When we accepted the Lord into our hearts and lives, we acted in faith. We fully believed God sent His son and had him die on the cross for our sins. We also believed He rose on the third day, and because of that, we were saved from an eternity in hell.

We knew at that moment we were someday going to spend eternity with our heavenly father Jesus Christ. What an act of faith that took- choosing to believe in something we had never seen but knew we were saved. We put our eternal souls into the Lord's hands.

Why is it then, for some of us, we have such a hard time totally surrendering our lives here on earth to God’s plan and purpose for us?

Why do we still want to control our own lives and make our own decisions? We depend too much on ourselves and what we want and don’t want.

It’s as though we're saying “Ok Lord I trust you with my eternal life, but not my earthly one.” We knew at the moment we accepted Christ because we needed and wanted Him in our hearts and lives. We trusted that he heard us and saved us-but why not every day- in every situation?

Christ did not just die on the cross, so we could have forgiveness, go to heaven and then say to us “Ok go on now, I’ll find out how your life went when you get to Heaven.”

He wants our lives to always reflect Him. He wants to guide us and give us abundant life. John 10:10 says “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

God’s word tells us He has good plans for us -not to hurt us. There should be no hesitation in us saying, “Lord take my whole life, my plans, my thoughts and do what you want.”

Who are we to think we know more than God? We are only here because He created us- He gave us life! When we try to handle our own lives, we are in effect saying, “I don’t trust you Lord and I think I can do it better.” That sounds harsh but it's reality.

What is amazing is that the disciples gave up everything to follow Jesus. Matthew 4:18-22 says “And walking by the sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fisherman. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” And they immediately left the nets and followed Him.

And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father and followed Him.”

Matthew 9:9 says “And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man, called Matthew, sitting in the tax office; and He said to him “Follow Me!” and he rose and followed Him.”

These men immediately rose to their feet and followed Jesus. They had no idea what was in store for them. They gave up their careers and left their family members to follow Jesus. The word “Follow” in the dictionary means, “To come or come after and in the same direction.” Jesus wants us to follow Him- to go in His direction not him in our direction.

I encourage you to not only look to him regarding your salvation but to look to Him for everything. Remember His plans for us are good-better than we could ever imagine. We have nothing to fear by giving Him total control over our lives.

1 Timothy 1:7 says” For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.”

It’s a walk of faith that we must take, but also an exciting journey. Hebrews 11:6 says “And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

The disciples didn’t always fully understand everything, but they continued to follow Him. We are as well not always going to understand and foresee things, but that’s the exciting part! Look at what the disciples would have missed had they not “Followed” the Lord.

They gave up everything for him and I guarantee you that they never regretted their choice. Let’s not miss out on what God wants to do through us and for us to accomplish His will.