Follow Me

Follow me!  Those are usually words we only want to hear when someone is bringing us to our table at a restaurant. By nature, we would rather lead than follow. We would rather blaze the trail and get the accolades than just be part of the team coming behind the leader. We want to be the pitcher, the point guard, or the quarterback if we use sports terms. We tell our kids to be leaders and not followers.

We can’t truly be leaders until we first become followers. But we also need to be careful who we chose to follow as well as who we chose to lead. When Jesus first called his disciples, his first words to them were “follow me”. He didn’t ask them to lead Him, He asked them to follow Him. He would ultimately make them fishers of men (leaders), because they would first learn to fish (follow).

It takes a humble spirit to follow someone else and learn the ropes. It takes an even more humble spirit to lead others and teach them the ropes. I’ve been on both sides of the fence; I’ve had to be a follower and I’ve been a leader. In all honesty, I would say a humble spirit is not the words I would use to describe how I followed or how I have lead, but I’m learning.

I believe we have to be both a follower and a leader at the same time. There should be someone in our lives that we are leading as a mentor and someone we are following as they mentor us. The Apostle Paul even followed this example. When he started his ministry he had a mentor on his first journey by the name of Barnabas who vouched for Paul before the church Antioch. By the end of his ministry he was a mentor to Timothy, showing him the way as Timothy lead the church in Ephesus.

Who do you look to at this point in your life as a mentor to help guide you in the right direction as you follow after God?  Who are you mentoring to help someone new in the faith along the right path through discipleship?  Both are important to your growth.

Have a great day and God bless.