Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and all other social media platform accounts encourage you to follow them. Be careful.
Google defines follow as moving or traveling behind someone or something. Who do you follow and why are you following them?
Growing up, I recall my father saying, “Don’t be a follower. Be a leader”. My dad was teaching me that followers—follow, but leaders set the pace and the trend. Leaders blaze a path through undeveloped territory.
Truth is, all of us are bound to follow someone. So, before making a decision to follow another person it’s important to understand the leader’s mission and vision. Some leaders have honorable and wholesome objectives; others—not so much.
The Bible supports followers and our ability to choose who we follow. Luke 9:23 reminds us of Jesus' words, Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
In Bible days, people followed Jesus for different reasons. Some simply wanted the free blessings. Some were haters trying to trap Him. Others believed in His teachings and were seeking to learn more. A life commited to Christ provides protection and provision. It also requires submission to God's principles and denial of anything to the contrary.
This scripture doesn't speak to moving or traveling behind Jesus physically. It conveys accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; recognizing personal tendancies that are contrary to God; positioning oneself to a lifestyle that aligns with biblical principles; and conforming our attitudes and actions (by the aid of the Holy Spirit) to the spiritual development of self and others.
We all have the right to choose who we follow. Choose wisely.
And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
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