Follow Me

I was leaving Ellel Grange one day after a healing retreat when I was stopped at the bottom of the drive by two young ladies who had been on the retreat and who wanted to get onto the motorway to go south. It is a little confusing, as there is a roundabout and a signpost showing the road to both south and north going in the same direction. You need to take that road and turn off immediately to go north, but continue over a bridge to go south. The young women were worried that they would set off in the wrong direction if they followed the signpost. I told them to follow me until I gave them a signal pointing them in the right direction. I was going north, but if they followed me and continued on in the same direction after I had turned off, they would have found themselves on the right road.

They followed until we came to the turn-off at the roundabout, but instead of following my directions and staying with me, they continued round the roundabout again and ended up back where they started, but I was already committed so had to continue.

I’m sure they eventually found their way, but afterwards I reflected that we so often respond in a similar way to Jesus. He calls us to follow Him, but we like to think that we know better and choose to go our own way. Some of us are still in the same place that we were when Jesus first called us, possibly going round in circles, and haven’t grown in maturity. Following Him implies movement, in other words, we have to grow and develop as Christians, not just come to faith in Him, but develop our faith and understanding. This we can only do by getting to know our Saviour better through reading the Bible and spending time with Him in prayer. Paul complained that he had to feed the Corinthians on milk instead of solid food as they were not able to receive it (1 Corinthians 3:2). Are we still in that position of needing milk, or have we matured in our faith and discipleship so that we are able to receive the good, solid food of Jesus’ teaching?

Prayer: Dearest Father, my heart’s desire is to know more of You. Please forgive me that I am sometimes so reluctant to hear Your voice calling me to follow You. I know You long for me to mature in my Christian faith, so today I make myself wholly available to You and say, “have Your way, Lord.” Amen.