Tag was the next logical choice

I didn’t want to rabbit hop again.  The teachers at Wednesday Night Bible Study had run out of material, us kids were keyed up and ready to do something fun.  I wanted to play tag with the 20+ other 6- and 7-year-olds in our widened hallway of a classroom.

We had already colored our pictures, the bible story was short this time, and it was early spring.  We wanted to get up and do something.  Red Rover was out of the question, tag was the next logical choice to me, but the teachers wanted some control.  That is how I found myself in line dreading the rabbit hop.

Our little minds couldn’t grasp different ways to walk or jump or move.  Personally, I wanted to do summersaults and cartwheels, but we were about to rabbit hop again.  Follow-the-leader is not about independent movement, it is about obedience to the leader.  You either get to join in by doing something fun or you sat out with the energy of 12 squirrels who accidently gathered coffee beans instead of acorns.

Following Christ can sometimes feel like this too.  People often envision following Christ as being that good kid at Sunday school who wore the pretty new dress or cute tie and sat politely while paying attention to every lesson.  I don’t know a lot of people who love dressing up and sitting attentively, but I do know a few.  I also know a few followers of Christ who go to church in work clothes then hop in their truck and head off to work again.

We have been called to follow the leader as Christians, we follow God into all eternity.  We have talked about how to have a relationship with God through Christ’s work of the cross, but what do we do next?  We are in the follow-the-leader line, now we join in with obedience.  When Christ leads us this way or that way we follow Him.

The comments I have gotten from people in the past is how do I more effectively follow Christ?  Start with loving God, then love others.  How do we love God?  By spending time with Him through prayer and scripture reading.  Personally, I like to read the bible through in a year and pray while doing something.  Other people I know use Our Daily Bread for scripture, a lesson, and prayer.  Others use a prayer garden, prayer room, prayer rug, prayer walk, prayer workout, or prayer of desperation to make known to God their concerns.  

My advice in following God is don’t make it more complicated than you need to, start by praying and asking God to speak to you or others through scripture.  Then read your bible in a systematic way, including passages you don’t like or understand.  Finally pray again, ask God to meet your needs and talk about your concerns with Him.

As you grow in your ability to follow-the-leader you will find that it gets easier and you want to do it more.  Paul reminds us to follow our leader in Ephesians 5:1-2, “1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  So, follow your leader, figure out where He is going and pursue Him.  Know Him and hear from Him so you know where and how He is leading you.  If Jesus asks you to hop like a rabbit, be the first to jump because that is obedience to following God.