"Follow Me"

What if…

What if your footsteps left an imprint for all the world to see – “Follow Me”?  Where will you make those footprints?  Where will your footprints lead others?

Jesus blazed an amazing path across our world.  His birth is well recorded as a spectacular event.  The next peek of Him we get is at age 12 in the Temple doing His Father’s business.  Then the next time He appears in recorded history, eighteen years later, He is fasting, baptized by John, and preaching words that continue to revolutionize our world.  Some people wonder about those quiet years.  What did Jesus do between 13 and 30?  We assume that sometime in those years, His earthly father, Joseph, passed away and Jesus cared for His mother and younger half-siblings.  But what else did He do in those years?  What were His relationships like?  Is there anything He needed to overcome or apologize for? 

In this current season of political wrangling, one presidential candidate after another is attacked – rightly or wrongly – for past misdeeds.  The mud-slinging, even within a political party is mind-numbing.  It’s hard to really get behind any candidate for fear of being embarrassed for supporting him/her when the truth of the character is revealed.  I wonder what the first followers of Jesus thought.  “I sure hope this guy pans out.”  “We’ve got nothing left to lose.”  Well, I think we do know what people said about Jesus.  Let’s check in with a word from our Sponsor:

They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well…” (Mark 7:37a)

Jesus never let anyone down.  He had no dark past to apologize for or run away from.  He was the real deal from the jump.  When His ministry earthly was finished, the dead had risen from the grave, but there were no skeletons in his closet.  His legacy was “He does all things well.”

For followers of Jesus, His excellence is of special note.  If we are going to follow Him, we are not called to mediocrity.  Followers of Jesus cannot pursue our desires 167 hours a week and “follow” Jesus one hour a week.  Why?  Because the One we follow leads us to the light every moment of every day.  And just importantly, remember the shoes.  Followers of Jesus have said to the whole world, “Follow me, I’ll lead you to Jesus.”  Stay on the path.

Clark H Smith