Follow Me

Clean, pressed, empty pages. The smell of a new book. A soft leathery cover without creases and folds. A new journal. 

Opening it feels like opening a new chapter in life. Putting the pen to paper is like starting something new. If you are seeking a fresh start, just get a new journal. 

The day that I opened my new journal, I just so happened to read Matthew's call in Matthew chapter 9, and it jumped off the page at me like the theme of this new journal and this new season. 

You see, I want to follow Jesus, but I also want to know the plan. I want to know where we're going and what we will do there and where we will go after that. I want to anticipate the difficulties ahead so that I can avoid them. As he leads, I find myself peeking over his shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of the path ahead. But that's not what following is. Following is taking his hand and following wherever he goes without knowing the way, putting my feet in his footsteps, keeping in step. It is trust. 

Following is also daily. "Take up your cross daily and follow me," Jesus said. We can get to thinking too far in advance and forget that following Christ is a daily decision. Actually, following Jesus may have very little to do with how we plan the future and very much to do with how we live out our present circumstances - Loving others tirelessly and unconditionally, forgiving and extending grace, serving others before ourselves, and being worshipful and thankful no matter the circumstance. 

I wrote in my new journal that this new season is all about learning how to follow Jesus. How to drop everything and follow in his footsteps, even when (especially when) I can't see where we're going. But you know what? I don't think this is just a theme of this season, I think it's a theme of our whole lives: learning how to seek after and follow God with reckless abandon, unwavering trust, and inexpressible joy.