Follow Me

Matthew 8:22-24, “But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me…’ And He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.

Have you ever thought about how many times Jesus said, “Follow Me?” How about how the only thing the rich young ruler was missing was to “Follow Me.” (Matt 19:21) But where are we following Him to?

I dare say that if you have an answer then you are probably not really following Him. And yet we all want to know the destination. We all want the pleasurable paths to never end, and to get off the difficult paths as soon as possible. We only want to go places we know will be pleasurable, and yet Jesus never said, ‘Follow Me to (you fill in the blank). No, He just said, “Follow Me.”

For sure there is a place we will arrive if we follow Him. That place is face to face, embraced by His love having escaped His judgment. But oh that path can be so uncomfortable from time to time. There is a cross to carry on that path, and to even pick the cross up there is a surrender that must occur. All of which causes us to focus on things completely other than following Him.

Some think being perfect and sin free is the path, but Perfect and Sin Free is the person of Jesus Christ. The path behind Christ does grind sin from our souls, but that is a side effect, not the purpose. No the path is there to show us just exactly how different we are from Christ. In this understanding of the difference a transformation occurs. From this vision is gained. A vision that reveals the miracle of the journey. The journey, the following Him is the beauty of life. There is no destination because following Him is the destination.

There is no need to get caught up in wanting a marriage to achieve some certain goal. The journey together is about diamond sharpening diamonds in murmuration with God’s will and desire. This is His beauty. There is no need to pursue a position as the journey in your job is the opportunity to be aware Christ is there leading you places that will remove the dross of your character. In loss there is gain, and in gain there is loss because it is about the journey and not the destination.

Stop trying to make your career something, your marriage something, your children something. They are not a destination; they are all part of the journey.

I have a bucket list, and on that bucket list are vacation spots I would love to take my wife to. But in my heart I truly want to enjoy my current travels. Even though my path seems to be the same every day, I want to notice the details of the journey today. What are the subtle differences? What are the changes based on the seasons? What is God showing me today? Better yet, what are my desired destinations showing me about how different I am from Christ? Am I telling Christ where to take me, or I am following Christ wherever He goes? Am I enjoying the journey THROUGH many destinations, or am I demanding to camp and any certain one?

The journey following Him is grand.