Dear SCC & Friends,
…Follow Me… ~Matthew 8:22
Reflection #346
A friend of mine who lived in another state related a story about the time he got lost in downtown Los Angeles. He had a rental car, but this was before the days of GPS and cell phones. He needed to get to LAX, and was on a tight time constraint… He asked several people for help and got a variety of answers… “It’s simple, you need to get over to the 405 and then take the 105 West… No, no wait… Go back to the 710 North, which will eventually merge with the 405 North. If you pass Sepulveda or Wilshire Boulevards, you’ve gone too far… Look for signs… You can’t miss it…” He was still lost and needed more than well-intended people giving confusing and contradicting directions. It happened that a nearby individual overheard my friend’s dilemma and said, “I’m heading to LAX myself…just follow me and I’ll show you the way.” Everything changed when “telling” changed to showing him the way… “Follow Me” occurs over twenty times in the four Gospels… Following Jesus is the crux of our faith… He doesn’t just tell us the way; He is the way… I am the way, and the truth, and the life… ~Jn. 14:6
Follow Me is a call to relational accompaniment. It’s more than believing in Jesus… If any one serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be… ~Jn. 12:26 Following is not a system or method… It’s an intentional heart response of love and surrender… The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped… It implies that we enter into a way of life that is given character and shape and direction by the One who calls us. To follow Jesus means picking up rhythms and ways of doing things that are often unsaid but always derived from Jesus, formed by the influence of Jesus. ~Eugene Peterson~ .” Follow Me is the Lord’s personal invitation to a relationship with Him both now and forever. Jesus doesn’t force us but graciously invites us to follow Him into life and life more abundantly.Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ~Rev. 3:20 Keep up the good work!
Made for these days,
Kevin