If You Follow Him, They Will Follow You
Before my dad retired he worked as a teacher’s aide and had three months off in the summer, which was nice for me getting to spend my summers with my parents. I remember when I was a little girl, every summer day started off the same. My dad would wake up and make breakfast. I’d be ready to start to the day with some activity, but no, after breakfast dad would pull out his Bible, highlighters, pens, and notepad and have his “quiet time” with God for 1-3 hours, reading aloud from the Bible. Oh my gosh was I bored and for a long time I was mad. I could do nothing or go anywhere, I had to sit and wait for him to finish.
Summer after summer passed like this. Even Saturdays during the school year passed like this. I thought I’d die. I’d go ride my bike up the street or down the street because I wasn’t allowed to go further, and when I got bored with that I’d come in the house and sit on the sofa as dad read aloud the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, or Daniel in the Lion’s Den, or the visions of Ezekiel, or Jeremiah, or Amos, or he’d even read from the New Testament. The clock ticked and tocked- 11 am, 11:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm- “Dad are you almost done I’d ask?” “No, I’ve got another hour or so,” he say. Annoyed, angry and upset I’d go outside or up to my room.
But, I remember one summer day, while dad read aloud from the kitchen table, I went to my room, got my Bible, and tried to start making sense of whatever Old Testament passage I had turned to. I couldn’t understand what I was reading but I kept reading column after column. You see, if you follow Him, they will follow you.
A lot of times we can get caught up in wanting people to follow us- our ideas, blogs, articles, social media accounts, style, etc. But these are all carnal things. I’m not saying people don’t have good ideas or style, but they are still carnal. People are already looking at us and we don’t often realize it because they aren’t telling us. People are looking at how you talk, how you walk in this world, how you handle the challenges of life, and how you treat them/others. People don’t really care about the carnal you. They’re looking for substance. And for Christians, we know that substance, anything of worth is found in Jesus.
So, if you’re following HIM people will notice something different about you and want that for themselves- even if they aren’t Christian. They will at least be curious to want to know more and see what you’re about- even if they decide not to give their lives to Jesus. So, if you are someone of substance and people want to see what you’re about that means you’ve got leadership. And this leadership is a powerful thing. If you’re following God, seeking the Holy Spirit, looking to Jesus as how to treat your fellow man, and if you’re reading the Bible and applying it to your life then you have substance and people will want that.
Summer after summer, and Saturday after Saturday my dad read his Bible aloud from the kitchen table. And though I didn’t understand what He was reading he was setting an example, until one day I realized I couldn’t fight it, I too went to get my Bible and tried to follow my daddy because he was following his DADDY. This example of my dad, following his DAD, had a profound effect on me to follow my dad’s DAD because HE is my DAD too.