Follow Me – January 19, 2021

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
John 1:43

Follow Me

I used to pride myself on being a leader. I thought I knew what direction to lead my family and my church. I had plans to take our family on a vacation to Florida. And we had plans to keep expanding our church in multiple locations. But then the 2020 pandemic hit, and all our plans stopped. Suddenly, I didn’t feel like a confident leader. I didn’t know what the future would hold. And I had no idea where I was supposed to lead my family and God’s people.

Did something similar happen to you? Were you confident about where you were leading yourself and others? Did you lose your confidence when the world was turned upside down?

In our Bible reading today, Jesus is calling his first disciples. We read that he finds a man named Philip and says to him, “Follow me” (John 1:43). That’s it. Follow me. Jesus tells Philip that he doesn’t need to lead. He just needs to follow. Jesus doesn’t tell him what the future will be like. But he does tell him that he will be with him always.

Jesus is calling us with those same two words, “Follow me.” We don’t have to know what is going to happen in the near future. We can follow behind Jesus, listening to his Word, and following his teaching.

We can be even more confident than Philip to respond to Jesus’ call. Philip was called before Jesus died and rose. We are being called by the resurrected and living Savior who is sitting in the place of power at the Lord’s right hand. The future made seem uncertain, but we can continue in confidence because Jesus is our leader.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I trust in you. I will follow you wherever you lead. Amen.