Can You Follow

Can You Follow

January 16, 2017

Jeremiah 17:9  "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure."

I have five children, several of them still small which makes them difficult to see in a parking lot of cars.  Walking through a parking lot is a scary thing sometimes, as I can be seen because of my height, but they cannot.  I must keep them close to me, making sure they follow me perfectly, lest I risk them getting hit by a car.  Sometimes, they don't listen carefully and dart across the parking lot against my advice.  Thankfully, they have not been hit by a car, but sometimes my heart stops beating from the stress of the situation.  They don't realize what they don't realize, and haven't a clue how many times they could have been killed.  I'm always leading, but sometimes they aren't following.

If you are following something, then whatever you're following is leading you.  While a stupid and obvious statement, evaluate what it means.  Whatever you are following is leading your life.  I'd like to think that I'm following Christ but sometimes I'm following my own heart.  You've heard is said a million times, follow your heart.  That is the worst advice in the world.  No where in the Bible does it say you should follow your heart.  Your heart, my heart, is full of selfishness, sin, and death. The heart of man needs redeemed and can easily lead you astray if you're not careful.  You do what you want to do most days; that's you following your own heart.  You following your own heart has probably gotten you in trouble more than one or two times.  Just like my kid, following her own heart in a parking lot, the risk too grave.

So, I'll ask you if you are following Christ or if you are following something else today?  I know you can follow; you've proven that you're whole life.  Some days you're following your heart, some days you're following your spouse, some days you're following your fears, some days you're following money, and some days you're following jealousy. I would reckon you follow Christ some of the time, but when you aren't following Him you are following something else. Every time you take your eyes off Christ you end up following whatever it is your eyes gaze upon.  What are you looking at?  Are you looking at your situation and following your own advice on the matter?  What IS it that you're following?  Are you following your perception of Christianity?  Are you following another Christian? You are welcome to follow a real Christian example, but be careful as to who that Christian is.  Just because he is a pastor doesn't mean he should be your example to follow in life.  I know plenty of selfish pastors; there will be more than one or two pastors that wind up in hell.

No matter how good you and I think our application of our Christianity is, it is still short of what the Lord requires of us and it is still short of our best effort.  Bottom line is, we are following something at all times, every minute of the day.  You can and will following anything, but start everyday following Him.  If you are following anything but Christ, just imaging a child darting across a parking lot and cars zooming fast. That's you.  The Lord is always leading, but sometimes you aren't following Him.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Josh 24:15, Pr 19:3, Jer 17, Rom 3:23, 1 Cor 11:1