I listened to a story of a man who went to Germany for a couple of
days. He went out to a restaurant to eat and at some point needed to use the
loo. Well, since he couldn’t read German, he decided to follow this man who was
going to the loo as well. On getting there, he walked in and used the toilet. However,
when he was done and about to open the door and leave, he heard women’s voices
just outside his door. Then it hit him!!! First of all, he realized that that
was not a “man” he followed, but actually a woman, dressed and appearing like a
man. Secondly, he had just been led into the ladies loo! He had followed the
wrong person and ended up in a wrong place! He was so ashamed to come out while they were there, so he had to wait until all the ladies left and then he quickly left the
toilet! Funny story but one that holds some heavy truth for you and me.
1 Peter 2:21 says “To this you were called, because Christ
suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”
The question I’d like to ask here is this: Who are you
following? And where is that person leading you to? The story at the beginning
is clear proof that it matters very much who you follow as much as where that
person is leading you to. These days, many of us have gotten sidetracked from
following the perfect example of Jesus Christ. We feel that following Jesus,
and following Him keenly is too much of a difficult task for us. We are not
fully ready to take up our cross and follow Jesus. We are not yet ready to slam
the door in that old man’s face (self). We are not ready to boldly stand on
what is right even when we may have to do that alone. We are more attracted to
following fellow humans who seem like the perfect examples to us. I am not
saying that it is wrong to look up to a human that you respect and that follows
Christ, that’s good…especially if you are in a discipleship relationship with
such a one, but we must be careful not to make any man our standard for life.
Jesus is the standard for us to follow. He is the perfect pattern Son. No human
man can ever bring us to where Jesus can. They are not capable enough to form
the life of Christ inside of us. Only Jesus can. Remember that you become who you follow. Man can easily lead you to hell.
But Jesus is calling us to follow Him… Matthew 16:24 says, “Then
Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny
themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” It’s a choice to follow
Jesus, however, we MUST also be ready to say ‘No’ to ourselves and take up our
cross and follow Jesus.
We must be cautious about who we follow, because following the
wrong person will automatically lead you to the wrong destination… ultimately,
you must also have an envisioned destination in mind before deciding on who to
follow. I therefore ask you, what is your expected end? Where do you intend to
arrive at? Following Jesus will surely bring us to an expected end, Heaven. And
in following Him, we are learning of Him, and He is making us into His likeness…
this in turn will cause us to become pointers, pointing others to Jesus. Even as
we follow Jesus, we must be careful not to become idols of men, but ONLY
pointers to the One whom they must follow; JESUS.
Remember, JESUS is the standard for godly living…. Do you
desire a godly life? Follow Jesus.
References:
The Holy Bible
Story told by Dr. Ackah
Images from- niceonenana.com, stjohnsranmoor.org.uk, friskychile.blogspot.com
